Blue Eyed Girl
by Lardev
Summary: A year of new experiences at Hogwarts. I've made some changes, so check them out!
1. Chapter One

The sun shone brightly in the crystal blue sky as the Hogwarts Express glided through the English countryside. On board were hundreds of eager students awaiting their arrival at Hogsmeade Station to begin another year at Hogwarts. In the last compartment of the train sat a beautiful, fifteen (soon to be sixteen) year old girl intently writing a letter to her best friend.  
  
Dear Delia,  
Here I am. I'm on the train, leaving from the station, on the  
way to a new life. I know what you'll say, I'm being too dramatic, but  
let's forget about that for a second. I already miss you, Dee! How  
am I going to do this without you? I haven't done anything too  
embarrassing yet. Although, there was one close call that involved my  
trolley and a very angry man with newly bruised heels, but I won't go  
into details. I don't have much to say to you now. I pretty much  
told you everything on the phone last night! Wonder why I'm bothering  
to right this letter? Well, it's because I need to do something to  
occupy the time. You know how great I am at sitting still for a long  
time.  
  
The girl paused and smiled, reminiscing about the wonderful times she had with her friend. She couldn't help but think that there may not be many more times like that now that she was on her way to her new school. Don't think about that! she scolded herself. She hunched over to finish her letter.  
  
I miss you! (I think I already mentioned that...oh well, bear with me)  
Try not to have too much fun without me. (You know I'm kidding) Keep  
in touch. Love always, Rox  
  
Roxanne's silver blue eyes perused the letter one last time, carefully folded it, and placed it into her trunk. She sat back in her seat, trying to get comfortable for the long ride ahead. She leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window and watched as the lush green hills passed by.  
  
Well, here I am, she thought. I wanted a change of scenery, and I got it.  
  
Although, when she said she wanted a change this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. She was ready to graduate from her old school and she was excited to be able to go to a new school and learn skills for the profession she would, one day, pursue. She had been quite surprised when her father informed her that he had been transferred to the Ministry in England and the whole family would be moving there. She, of course, had been very excited for her father because this was a wonderful opportunity for him, but she couldn't help feeling sad that she was leaving her beloved home in New York and all of her friends.  
  
Everything will be fine. Just wait, she told herself as she saw dark clouds forming toward the horizon.  
  
Just then, the door to her compartment slid open and in walked two boys who looked about her age.  
  
"Oh, sorry...looks like this one's full," said the taller of the two.  
  
"Oh, no, that's okay. You can sit here if you want," said Roxanne, still a little startled from the unexpected entrance.  
  
"Alright, thanks. This train's packed," said the same boy, smiling. Roxanne smiled back as she moved her trunk to make room for the boys to sit down. "I'm Seamus Finnegan and this here is Dean Thomas."  
  
"Roxanne Moore," she replied.  
  
"Nice to meet you," said Dean. "What year are you?"  
  
"Sixth," Roxanne answered him. "How about you guys?"  
  
"We're both fifth," Dean responded.  
  
"What house are you in?" Seamus asked curiously. "I don't think I've seen you before."  
  
"Oh...I don't know," Roxanne replied. Seamus and Dean both gave her odd looks. "I'm new," she finished seeing the puzzled looks they gave her.  
  
"Oh," Seamus laughed, "that would explain why I've never seen you before...and also your hesitation."  
  
"Yeah, I was worried for a second when you didn't answer," chuckled Dean.  
  
"So, are you getting sorted with the first years?" Dean asked.  
  
"I don't know, I guess."  
  
"Well, you want to get sorted into Gryffindor, just so you know," said Dean, "it's the best house of course." Seamus nodded in agreement.  
  
Roxanne laughed, "Lemme guess, you're in Gryffindor?"  
  
"You got it," answered Dean smiling. "How'd you know?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
"Lucky guess," Roxanne smiled and gazed out the window again.  
  
Not too bad so far, Roxanne thought to herself. She had always enjoyed getting to know new people.  
  
"So, where are you from?" asked Seamus after a long silence.  
  
"New York," Roxanne answered, suddenly reminded of how much she missed her friends.  
  
"Figures," said Dean, "I could tell by the accent."  
  
She laughed and turned back to them. She never thought of herself having an accent.  
  
"So, why are you transferring here, if you don't mind my asking?" Dean asked.  
  
"Well, my dad worked for the Ministry in New York, and there was an open position at the Ministry in London. So he was promoted, and this is his new job," Roxanne replied.  
  
"Why do you have to change schools? Why couldn't you stay in your old school?" Seamus asked, inquisitively.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't have a place to live. You see, in the U.S. the magic schools aren't boarding schools. There are different wizarding communities all over the country and each one has a school. Pretty much all witches and wizards in the country live in one of the communities, so basically you go to the school in your community."  
  
"Hmm, I never knew that," Seamus said with his brow furrowed.  
  
Roxanne smiled, "Well, now you do."  
  
The rest of the train ride passed quickly. The boys discussed quidditch for a while and Roxanne interjected every now and then. The sky had steadily become darker, but it was not yet raining. They finally reached the station and quickly filed off the train.  
  
"Firs' years this way," Roxanne heard a somewhat familiar voice say. She turned and saw a friendly face she recognized from her earlier visit to Hogwarts with her father.  
  
"Hello there, Roxanne! Made the trip alrigh', I see," Hagrid said as she neared.  
  
"Hey, Hagrid. Yeah, the trip was fine. Do you know where I'm supposed to go?"  
  
"Jus' follow me. You'll be joinin' the firs' years to be sorted."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Roxanne walked with Hagrid toward the lake followed by a group of frightened looking first years. They all boarded small wooden boats to make the journey across the serene lake  
  
Not five minutes into their crossing, the heavens opened and rain began to pour down on them. Roxanne, along with the other first years in her boat, desperately clung to the sides of the boat as the wind howled and the once calm lake became rather rough.  
  
They eventually reached the other side of the lake. Everyone quickly scrambled out of the boats, not wanting to spend any more time in them than necessary. Many of the first years looked quite shaken up, and a few looked rather green. She did her best to try to console one particular girl who had been sniffling even before they entered the boats, obviously homesick.  
  
"Well, tha' was quite the ride, wouldn' yeh say?" Hagrid remarked, trying to make light of the situation. Some of the students glared at him, while Roxanne smiled and rolled her eyes.  
  
You can say that again, she thought to herself. Hopefully this wouldn't reflect the rest of her experience at Hogwarts. 


	2. Chapter Two

Hagrid led them into the entrance hall where they were welcomed by Professor McGonagall. She told them all about the sorting ceremony and the houses as they tried to warm themselves. A few minutes into her speech she finally noticed their appearances.  
  
"Oh dear, caught in the storm were you?" she asked. A few of the first years nodded sadly.  
  
"Alright then, stand by the fires until we're ready for you." She turned to walk back into the Great Hall when she spotted Roxanne.  
  
"Hello again, Roxanne. How was your trip?" she asked as she walked over to her. A few of the first years looked over curiously.  
  
"It was very nice, thanks," Roxanne replied.  
  
"Good, good. I just wanted to inform you that Professor Dumbledore would like to introduce you to the school, so you will be sorted last," she told her.  
  
Introduce me to the school?! I didn't really want to draw that much attention to myself... I think I'll pass on that, Roxanne thought to herself. "Oh, uh...I don't know, Professor..." she replied nervously. "Nothing to worry about, dear. You'll be fine," Professor McGonagall said almost distractedly as she opened one of the great wooden doors that separated them from the rest of the school.  
  
"Alright, everyone, it's time! Follow me," Professor McGonagall said. The first years gathered behind her and she began to walk into the Great Hall.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Seamus and Dean sat down at the Gryffindor with their friends. They chatted about their summers and different things they had done. Then Ron Weasley said, "Hey, I heard there's a new student this year, a sixth year."  
  
"Yeah, I heard that too," Lee Jordan replied, "a girl."  
  
"Really?" Fred and George Weasley asked at the same time. "Something interesting finally happening around here," Fred added somewhat sarcastically. Interesting and unusual things always seemed to take place at Hogwarts. Ranging from a basilisk roaming the school's pipes, to an escaped convict on the loose, to the Triwizard Tournament being held, but none of these things ever piqued Fred or George's interest quite like the news of this new student.  
  
"It's true," Seamus interjected, "Dean and I sat with her on the train."  
  
Everyone turned to Dean and Seamus and began talking at once. "Really?" "You did?" "What was she like?" "What did she look like?"  
  
Dean laughed at the response Seamus received, "Yes, really," he said. "We did," Seamus added. "She's an American. She seemed pretty nice," Dean answered. "And she was easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean," Seamus grinned.  
  
A few people opened their mouths to ask more questions, but Professor McGonagall opened the door and began to lead in the very wet looking first years.  
  
"Jeez, did someone get fed up and throw 'em in the lake?" George whispered.  
  
Fred chuckled, "That's what I would've done."  
  
Hermione Granger glared at both of them and said, "They obviously got caught in that sudden downpour. Honestly, you two are terrible."  
  
"Thank you," George smiled.  
  
"We're here all year," added Fred.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the drenched students.  
  
"Where's the new girl? Isn't she going to be sorted?" Harry Potter asked curiously.  
  
"She'll probably come along eventually. I don't remember there ever being this many first years," replied Ron. "Oh wait, is that her?"  
  
And sure enough in walked a girl who looked much older than the first years, probably about sixteen. She shivered as her sodden black robes clung to her body. Her dark hair was stringy and curling because of its dampness. Nevertheless, she was one of the most beautiful girls any of them had ever seen. Her silvery eyes took in her surroundings in awe and amazement. She looked over toward the Gryffindor table and smiled as she recognized Dean and Seamus. Other boys who witnessed this jealously looked over at the two boys. The silence was replaced by whispers of girls asking each other, "Who's that?" and most of the boys just stared.  
  
When the students finally reached the front of the hall, they crowded around Professor McGonagall who had just placed the Sorting Hat on its stool. The hat sang its song and Professor McGonagall started calling the first years one by one in alphabetical order. The sorting went fairly rapidly and the number of students standing in front of Roxanne quickly decreased. She grew more and more nervous as each student was sorted.  
  
Why does Professor Dumbledore need to make a big deal about this? Why can't I just be sorted like everyone else, Roxanne thought to herself anxiously.  
  
After the last first year was sorted and Roxanne was left standing next to Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore stood up and the Hall grew silent once again.  
  
"Good evening, students," Dumbledore began. "On behalf of the faculty I would like to welcome you all to another fine year at Hogwarts. As you may have noticed, we have a new student joining us this year," he said as he smiled at Roxanne. "Her name is Roxanne Moore and she is coming to us all the way from the United States. I know you will all make her feel welcome," he motioned for her to sit on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat as he sat down. As she did so, the hall remained eerily silent, so silent she could hear the water dripping from her cloak hit the floor. She was certain everyone could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She placed the hat on her head and heard a small voice in her ear.  
  
"Ah, so you are the new girl everyone has been so excited about," the voice said. "Now where to put you? Hmm...how about GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The Gryffindor table erupted with excited shouts and applause as the students at the other tables (mostly male students) frowned in disappointment and protested.  
  
Roxanne smiled at the reaction, relieved. She was pleased by the response she received from her new house. She made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat down at an empty space next a girl with straight brown hair and a friendly face.  
  
"Hi," said the girl to Roxanne, smiling, "I'm Katie Bell."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Roxanne replied.  
  
"Here, I'll do the introductions," Katie said. She introduced Roxanne to almost everyone at the table. Roxanne's head was spinning from all the information that had just been thrown at her.  
  
"It's very nice to meet all of you," she said, smiling, "and please forgive if I don't remember all of your names."  
  
"That's alright," said either Fred or George (she was already forgetting), "our own mother doesn't even know our names sometimes."  
  
"Yeah, so you can refer to us as 'Hey, you!'" said the other twin.  
  
Roxanne laughed, and food magically appeared on the tables. She was rather surprised at this, but when she saw everyone else dig in, she joined them. 


	3. Chapter Three

Throughout the feast Roxanne chatted with everyone around her, getting to know them. She was asked a lot of different question about her old school and life in the US and her family. She had barely touched her food.  
  
As everyone was finishing up, Katie stood looked over to Roxanne's plate and said, "Is that all you're going to eat?" referring to Roxanne's plate covered with food she had barely touched.  
  
"Well...I'm not very hungry," Roxanne responded, not looking at Katie, even though her stomach was growling loudly.  
  
"Okay, whatever," Katie said as she stood up. "Ready to see where you'll be living for the next nine months?"  
  
"Sure," Roxanne answered, thankful that Katie hadn't prodded any further into why Roxanne wasn't eating much, "let's go."  
  
As they walked through castle, Roxanne was amazed at how beautiful it was. Her old school was nothing like this. She was fascinated by the portraits and was studying one particular portrait of a young woman in an elaborate blue dress when the woman suddenly stood up from her chair and said, "I would like to welcome you to Hogwarts. Now, could you please stop staring at me? You're making me uncomfortable." Roxanne jumped backed, stunned.  
  
Katie laughed, "Haven't you ever seen moving portraits before?"  
  
"No!" Roxanne replied, still slightly shocked.  
  
"Well, get used to it, they're all over the castle," Katie said still smiling.  
  
They continued walking and Roxanne cautiously looked at the other portraits in the corridors that were welcoming her to the school.  
  
"Here we are," Katie said when they reached they end of the hallway.  
  
"Where?" Roxanne asked puzzled.  
  
"The Gryffindor dormitory, of course," Katie replied as the portrait of a fairly large woman in a pink silk dress asked, "Password?"  
  
"Annuo Foris," Katie said. The portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall that Katie climbed through.  
  
Roxanne followed quickly, not wanting to be left behind. On the other side of the hole was a large room filled with comfortable looking chairs and couches and a welcoming fire burning in the fireplace.  
  
"C'mon I'll show you you're room," Katie said excitedly as she walked towards a set of stairs.  
  
Roxanne followed Katie up the stairs speechless. This was unlike anything she had ever seen before. At the top of the stairs was a room with five four-poster bed with dark red velvet curtains.  
  
"Wow," was all Roxanne could say.  
  
"Pretty cool, huh?" Katie said, amused.  
  
"This is incredible," Roxanne responded.  
  
"That's your bed over there," Katie pointed to the bed right in the middle.  
  
Roxanne walked over to the bed and flopped onto it. "I could fall asleep right now," Roxanne said yawning. It had been a long day. She could barely sleep the night before and woke up very early to make sure she got to the station on time. And, naturally, she had been nervous about going to a new school and all the worrying had worn her out.  
  
"Aw, you can't do that. This is probably the only night all year when we won't have homework. We have to have a party or something," Katie said smiling as she walked over to Roxanne. "C'mon, get up," she said as she grabbed Roxanne's wrists to pull her up. Roxanne protested, but eventually allowed Katie to pull her to her feet.  
  
"There, I'm up. Happy?" Roxanne asked, slightly moody.  
  
"Ecstatic," Katie replied. "Let's go see what's happening downstairs."  
  
Roxanne followed Katie down the stairs into the now crowded common room. They made their way over to a cluster of couches and chairs where most of their friends were sitting. Roxanne sat in an empty chair while Katie joined Fred and George on one of the couches. They all talked for a while about different things. Roxanne just listened because they were talking a lot about what had happened in years past and she had no idea what they were talking about.  
  
"So how are you planning to save us all this year, Harry?" Fred asked Harry with a sarcastic smile on his face.  
  
Harry's face reddened as he replied, "It's not my fault Voldemort's always after me."  
  
Roxanne was baffled at this. She had heard about Voldemort before, but never really thought twice about him. She was always told he wasn't much of a threat as long as she was in the US, but now she wondered how much of a threat he actually was now that she was no longer in the US. And what did Harry have anything to do with him?  
  
George must have noticed her puzzled expression because he said, "The famous Harry Potter has saved us from Voldemort a number of times. But I'm sure you already knew that."  
  
"Wait, what do you mean? When has he saved you?.....Why are you famous?.....I'm so confused," Roxanne asked looking from George to Harry and back again.  
  
"You can't tell me you've never heard of Harry Potter," Fred said.  
  
"The Boy Who Lived?" George asked astounded.  
  
Roxanne thought for a minute. When she had heard Harry's name she thought it had sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before. Then, all of the sudden, she remembered. She had read about the incident with Voldemort and Harry's family in one of her old History of Magic books.  
  
"Oh, wait a minute, I remember now," she said.  
  
"Oh, okay, good, you had me worried. I thought you might have lived in a cave or something," George said sarcastically and almost relieved.  
  
Roxanne smiled and was about to ask about what had happened with Voldemort since then, but when she saw the look on Harry's face she decided against it and tried to change the subject.  
  
"So what are the teachers like?" she asked, seeing Harry visibly relax as he smiled gratefully at her because he was no longer the subject of the conversation. She returned the smile and turned her attention to George who was doing an impression of the Potions professor, who no one seemed to like.  
  
A few hours later, the fire had died and most of the other students in the common room had gone to bed. Roxanne could barely keep her eyes open and kept yawning.  
  
"Tired?" someone asked her as she jumped and realized she had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and saw George standing in front of her with an amused look on his face.  
  
"Exhausted," Roxanne said as she smiled and stood up out of the chair.  
  
"You better get some sleep because tomorrow you get to meet all of those incredibly fascinating teachers we've been telling you so much about," he said as he walked with her to bottom of the stairs to the dormitories.  
  
"Can't wait," Roxanne smiled and began to yawn again.  
  
George laughed as he started up the stairs to the boy's dormitories, "Good night."  
  
"Night," Roxanne replied. She climbed the stairs to her dormitory, kicked off her shoes, and flopped onto her bed still fully clothed.  
  
"Good Night, Roxanne," Katie said who had just closed the curtains around her bed.  
  
Roxanne didn't respond, as she had already fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep. 


	4. Chapter Four

The next morning Roxanne woke up rather early as the glaring sun shone through the window. She realized she had not closed the curtains around her bed. She quickly got changed and walked up to the owlery to write a quick note to Delia telling her about her first day. Afterwards, she walked down to breakfast and sat down in the same spot she sat in the night before, next to Katie.  
  
"Good morning, everyone," Roxanne said as she sat down.  
  
"'Morning," a few people mumbled back still tired from the previous night.  
  
"You slept well, I see," said Katie, "you were out like a light in that chair last night."  
  
Roxanne's face reddened and she smiled sheepishly as she asked, "How long was I asleep?"  
  
"Oh, about fifteen minutes, I reckon," said George, "you didn't snore too much though." Roxanne opened her mouth to protest just as George said, "But don't worry, it was a cute little snore, nothing like Ron over there, I can hear him snoring three miles away." Ron looked over at George and indignantly mumbled something through his full mouth.  
  
"I don't snore!" Roxanne said resentfully at almost the same time as Ron.  
  
"How would you know when you're asleep?" George questioned as he smiled. Roxanne couldn't think of an answer to this. "I don't know. I just...don't...snore," she finished weakly.  
  
George laughed, "I'm only kidding."  
  
"I know," Roxanne said smiling at him. He smiled back.  
  
Katie watched this flirtatious exchange interestedly. George had never seemed to be the type, but now he was shamelessly flirting with Roxanne. They looked at each other for a while longer before Katie interrupted.  
  
"What classes to you guys have today?" she asked Fred and George.  
  
"Ugh, don't remind me," said Fred rolling his eyes. George just groaned as he finally looked away from Roxanne who blushed when she realized what she had been doing.  
  
They spent the rest of breakfast talking about their classes. "I should probably go," Roxanne said after a while. "That's all you're going to eat?" Katie asked astonished, referring to the piece of toast Roxanne had eaten for breakfast.  
  
"I'm not very hungry," Roxanne answered quickly, "I'm kind of nervous about my first class."  
  
"I don't think I know the feeling of not being hungry," Katie mused. "And you don't have to be nervous about Potions. Snape hates everyone, and there's pretty much nothing you can do to change that. You might as well get used to the idea."  
  
"Okay," Roxanne laughed. "You coming?"  
  
"Sure," Katie said, joining her new friend. They said good-bye to Fred and George and headed up to the dormitory to grab their books for their first class.  
  
"So, are you ready to start another terrific year with our wonderful Potions teacher?" Katie asked Roxanne sarcastically.  
  
"Oh yeah, I can't wait after all of those awesome reviews I heard from all of you last night," Roxanne replied just as sarcastically.  
  
Katie smiled, "Well, we might as well get going. He hates you even more if you're late."  
  
They walked slowly down the corridors chatting quietly. Katie eventually asked, "Do you like George?"  
  
Roxanne looked a little surprised and said, "Yeah, sure. He seems really nice."  
  
"No, I mean like him like him," Katie said looking at Roxanne.  
  
"Well..." Roxanne said, "I don't know...I just met him."  
  
"I knew it," Katie said.  
  
"Well, I don't love him or anything," Roxanne said, blushing a little. "I have to keep my options open," she finished smiling.  
  
"Okay, okay," Katie laughed, "I get it."  
  
"Okay, good," Roxanne laughed with her.  
  
When they finally reached the dungeon classroom, they walked in and took two seats together. Katie introduced Roxanne to some of her friends from Ravenclaw, who were in the class with them. Snape finally entered, walking swiftly as his black robes flapped behind him.  
  
"Everyone, get out your books, turn to page three and read the first two chapters," he said, and began to take role.  
  
"Moore, Roxanne," he said after a few minutes.  
  
"Here," Roxanne replied not looking up from her book.  
  
"Ah, well if it isn't the new girl," Snape said looking up from his list, "American, aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, I am," Roxanne answered looking up at him.  
  
"Well, I don't know what they taught you over in your country, but you had better be well prepared, as this is Advanced Potions. Don't expect any special treatment from me if you fall behind," he said, glaring at her.  
  
"I don't expect any special treatment at all, professor," Roxanne replied.  
  
"Good," Snape said glaring at her one last time before looking back down at his list and continuing on with the role call. Roxanne looked at Katie and she rolled her eyes and returned to her reading. Roxanne did the same.  
  
The rest of the class was fairly uneventful. Snape already seemed to loathe Roxanne. He asked her the most difficult questions that no one else could answer.  
  
"Miss Moore, tell me the effects of gillyweed when ingested," Snape asked her coldly.  
  
"Um...well...I," Roxanne stuttered. She had no idea what gillyweed was, let alone what happened when someone ate it.  
  
"Well, since you can't answer that question, I'll give you a simpler one. What will happen when you add the hair of a unicorn to the polyjuice potion?" he inquired.  
  
"I-uh...I," she said baffled as she looked over at Katie who just shrugged as if to say "Don't look at me."  
  
"Miss Bell can't help you," Snape said seeing her do this. "Do you have an answer?"  
  
"No, professor," Roxanne replied discouraged.  
  
"Just as I thought," he said as she turned his back on her and walked to his desk. "Ten points from Gryffindor."  
  
All Roxanne could do was look over at Katie. It was so unbelievable unfair that he did this to her. The other Gryffindors looked over at her sympathetically, glad it wasn't them that Snape decided to pick on.  
  
When the class finally ended, Katie and Roxanne hurried out of the classroom.  
  
"Great guy, isn't he?" Katie asked while rolling her eyes.  
  
"Oh yeah, he's a real teddy bear," Roxanne answered. "What's his problem?"  
  
"Everyone says he's bitter because he wants to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Dumbledore won't let him for some reason," Katie informed her.  
  
"That's a good reason to hate your students," Roxanne said sarcastically.  
  
"I know," Katie replied laughing.  
  
"So, what do we have next?" Roxanne asked, knowing anything would be better than what she just experienced.  
  
Katie studied her schedule, "It looks like we have Advanced Charms."  
  
"Please tell me that's going to be better than Potions," Roxanne said hopefully.  
  
"Well, anything's better than Potions, but Professor Flitwick isn't too bad," Katie reassured her.  
  
"That's good to hear," Roxanne said happily as they made their way to class. 


	5. Chapter Five

The rest of the day flew by fairly uneventfully. After Charms Roxanne and Katie went to the Great Hall for lunch and then continued on to Transfiguration. After their last class they went to the library to get a head start on the homework that had already been piled on them. They dropped their books onto one of the round tables in the library, sat down, and began on their potions essay.  
  
"Do you happen to remember the last ingredient for that potion we were mixing today?" Katie asked Roxanne.  
  
"Um...no," Roxanne replied, "let me look it up." She turned, opened her book, and began flipping through the pages as Katie said, "It wasn't in there. I already looked."  
  
"Oh that's right," Roxanne answered, "what was the name of that book we were using today?"  
  
"It was something like 'Uncommon Potions for the Common Wizard' or something like that," Katie answered.  
  
"Let me go see if they have it here," Roxanne said getting up from her chair, "I'll be right back."  
  
"Okay, I'll keep going with this," Katie answered.  
  
Roxanne wandered down each aisle of shelves reading the titles of all of the books. She finally came to a section of Potions books and examined each title until she found the one she was looking for. She grabbed it and started paging through it as she walked back to her seat, not paying attention to wear she was going. She suddenly bumped into someone and knocked all the books out of their hands.  
  
"Oh jeez, I'm really sorry," she said picking up the books that were now lying on the floor. The person she bumped into, whoever it was, just stood there waiting for her to finish. She finally did and stood up to hand the books back to their owner.  
  
"Well if it isn't the new girl," she heard a cold drawling voice say. The voice belonging to the person she was now sorry she had bumped into.  
  
"Actually, my name's Roxanne," Roxanne said, looking into the ice blue eyes of none other than Draco Malfoy.  
  
"So it is," Draco replied looking her over from head to toe and smiling. "You had better be more careful and watch where you're going from now on," he continued, "you never know who you'll run into."  
  
"Uh huh, thanks for the advice," Roxanne retorted as she brushed past him to make her way back to her seat.  
  
"Who was that guy?" she asked Katie who had witnessed the whole thing.  
  
"Draco Malfoy," Katie responded, her face contorting as if she had a bad taste in her mouth, "he's a measly fifth year who thinks he owns everyone. Just ignore him."  
  
"Will do," Roxanne said as she watched him walk out. He was kinda cute you know, she thought to herself. Whoa, what am I saying? He was a jerk. She just shook her head and returned to her essay.  
  
After making a small dent in their mountain of homework, Katie and Roxanne decided to call it quits and head down to the Great Hall to have dinner.  
  
"Hey everyone," Katie said as she sat down and Roxanne did the same.  
  
"Hey guys," Angelina Johnson said, turning from her conversation with Alicia Spinnet.  
  
"Ah, so how was the first day, new girl?" George asked Roxanne, leaning toward her.  
  
"Not too bad," she replied, "well that is if you don't count Potions," she finished looking over at Katie and rolling her eyes. Katie laughed in agreement.  
  
"Oh so you don't like Snape?" Fred asked innocently, "He such a wonderful man. What is there not to like?"  
  
"Oh gee, I don't know," Roxanne said facetiously, "maybe it's the fact that he basically asked me every possible question about gillyweed to see how long it took me to mess up? Which turned out to be not very long at all."  
  
"Yeah, that would do it," George said in agreement, finally taking his eyes away from her.  
  
"How about you guys?" Roxanne asked Fred and George.  
  
"Eh, it was okay I guess," Fred said.  
  
"If, by okay you mean incredibly boring, I wholeheartedly agree," George finished.  
  
They continued talking about their day while they ate the feast that had been prepared for the school. Roxanne was still getting used to the massive amounts of food they were given for each meal, even though she didn't eat much of it. That was just one of the many differences between Hogwarts and her old school. The food, the castle, the classes, it was all so different, and she loved it. Another big difference was that her old school had been an all-girls school, and most of the girls hadn't been particularly nice to Roxanne. That was one change she was not having trouble with at all. There were plenty of guys at Hogwarts that she would gladly get to know better, a certain red-head in particular. She was just thinking about this when she realized the topic had turned to the upcoming ball.  
  
"I can't believe the Founder's Day Ball is only five weeks away!" Katie exclaimed.  
  
Roxanne laughed, "Katie, five weeks is kind of a long time."  
  
"Not really," Katie said logically, "it's less than two months."  
  
"Uh, ok," Roxanne surrendered. She really didn't want to argue with Katie's logic because she knew she would never win.  
  
"So who are you guys taking?" Katie asked Fred and George, changing the subject.  
  
"I'm working on it," said Fred winking and looking over at Angelina who was talking animatedly with Alicia.  
  
"How about you, George?" Roxanne asked him with genuine curiosity, hoping it might be her.  
  
"I haven't really thought about it," George said nervously and blushing slightly. Hopefully you, he thought to himself. What's the matter with me? I'm never nervous when I'm talking to girls. "There are so many choices. I'm just keeping my options open," he finished nonchalantly, hoping to cover up his nervousness.  
  
"Good idea," Roxanne laughed while trying to hide her slight disappointment.  
  
"Well, we should probably finish the rest of that homework," Katie said to Roxanne, standing up.  
  
"I guess you're right," Roxanne said, she hated homework.  
  
They said good bye to Fred and George and left for the Gryffindor common room for a long night of homework. 


	6. Chapter Six

The next few weeks flew quickly. The students grew more and more excited as the Founder's Day Ball crept ever closer. There were now only ten days left and most of the female students were frantically searching for the "perfect outfit." There were thousands of styles and colors of dress robes to choose from and each Hogsmeade weekend Madam Turner's Clothing Shoppe was always packed with Hogwarts students. Roxanne, of course, was excited as well. However, her excitement was somewhat pushed aside by the massive amounts of homework her professors had suddenly dumped on her. She had also been receiving owls from her parents telling her that her grandmother was very ill. So with trying to do all of her work and worrying about her grandmother, she didn't have time for much else, including sleep, which she hadn't gotten much of lately.  
  
Roxanne was sitting in a wooden chair that seemed to be steadily getting harder, at a table in the Gryffindor common room with books sprawled out in front of her. The rest of her friends had gone to bed long ago. It seemed like days since she and Katie were laughing hysterically at there little accident in Potions class. The look on Snape's face was priceless. He even made them all evacuate the dungeon, just from the small potion spill, saying something about it being "dangerous." But in truth, there mishap had happened only hours ago.  
  
She eventually decided to move her books over to a more comfortable seat on one of the couches if front of the dying fire. She sat down, wrapped a blanket around her, and opened her Charms book to begin studying for the test the following day. Suddenly, she was somehow reminded of her grandmother as she began staring into the fire. She really wished she could have been home with her, instead of here, studying for yet another test on the endless list of assessments. She thought of her gentle smile and the twinkle in her crystal blue eyes when she bragged about her grandchildren. A silent tear slid down Roxanne's face, which she quickly wiped away as she heard the portrait swing open. She had no idea who could possibly be returning this late. She clutched her wand in her hand, just in case, and turned toward the portrait.  
  
"What are you still doing up?" a startled George asked her.  
  
"I should be asking you the same thing," she replied as she put her wand down, no longer in danger.  
  
"I was uh... just finishing up some homework in the library," George said, averting his eyes from Roxanne and slowly making his way toward the stairs.  
  
"Right, I'm sure," Roxanne said skeptically. "I bet you don't even know where the library is, do you? And since when do you actually do homework?"  
  
"Since today...I'm turning over a new leaf," George said now staring intently at the floor. Roxanne just raised one disbelieving eyebrow in reply.  
  
"Okay, fine. I was putting some finishing touches on a little 'surprise' Fred and I are giving Filch," George surrendered. "Happy?"  
  
"Sure," Roxanne smiled, stretching her arms and back while George stood expectantly.  
  
"What?" Roxanne asked puzzled.  
  
"You still haven't told me why you're still up," George said.  
  
"Oh, there's a whole bunch of reasons," Roxanne said. "It's a long story. Don't worry about it."  
  
"I've got time," George said while crossing his arms in front of him, showing her he wouldn't be moving any time soon.  
  
Roxanne laughed weakly, "Do you want the whole list or the abridged version?"  
  
"Whole list," George said, "it can't be that bad."  
  
"Okay..." Roxanne said and then taking a deep breath. "I miss my friends, I miss family, I am completely stressing out over the millions of tests I have to take, I have a ton of homework that's due tomorrow that I haven't finished yet, I want to be home with my grandmother, I've gotten a total three hours of sleep all week, and to top it all off, the Founder's Day Ball is in, like, a week and I don't have dress robes or a date," she said feeling close to tears. "But, hey, it could always be worse, right?" she finished with a weak smile after a long silence.  
  
"Wow," George said, his face softening, "that all sounds pretty awful."  
  
"Yeah, well..." Roxanne said turning back to one of her books. "You should probably get some sleep. Sorry I dumped all of that on you."  
  
"No problem at all," George said as an idea was forming in his head. Okay, here's my chance he thought to himself, don't blow it.  
  
"Well, I think I can help you with one of the things on that sucky list," George said.  
  
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Roxanne asked, generally curious. Then she thought of something, "Wait, if you mean you thinking up a way to cheat on my tests is helping me, than you can forget it," her thought came out a little harsher than she had meant it.  
  
"No! Of course not," George blurted out, a little too loud. "I mean, I know you're one of those 'overachiever' types who don't like to cheat," he finished what he hoped was smoothly.  
  
Roxanne smiled in response. "Okay, then shoot."  
  
"Would you like to go to the Founder's Day Ball with me?" he said rather quickly. Merlin, why am I so nervous? he thought to himself.  
  
"Sure!" Roxanne said, trying to keep her newfound enthusiasm hidden. "I mean, that would be great," she finished a little more quietly.  
  
George let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, "Alright then." He was smiling like an idiot. "Well, I guess I should get to bed."  
  
"Okay," Roxanne said, "'night."  
  
"'Night," George replied, turning and walking up the stairs.  
  
"George?" Roxanne said as he was halfway up the steps.  
  
He turned around, "Yeah?"  
  
"Thanks," Roxanne said. She smiled and then turned back to her book. George stood on the stairs a minute longer, just watching her and smiling to himself. He couldn't believe his luck. He also couldn't seem to figure out this new nervousness that he felt when he was around her. He had never felt it before. He just couldn't explain it. He finally turned and walked the rest of the way to his room a very happy man. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Roxanne awoke with a start, realizing she had fallen asleep on the couch while she was studying. The rising sun shone through one of the giant windows in the common room. She figured it must have been around six o'clock. She sat up, gathered her books, put them in her bag, and stood up to stretch. As soon as she stood, a sharp pain sliced through her stomach. She doubled over, but the pain intensified. She soon found that she was wheezing and couldn't breathe. She was in so much agony she could barely see straight. She couldn't figure out the cause of this sudden episode. She collapsed onto the couch, hoping it would ease the excruciating pain. It only made the pain worse, so she struggled to get back to her feet. She decided she had to get to the hospital wing. She crawled out of the portrait whole and stumbled down the corridor, stopping every few feet to catch her breath, which was made difficult by her wheezing. At one point she stumbled and fell to the cold stone floor just as someone rounded the corner a few feet in front of her.  
  
"What are you doing on the fl-" the unknown person started to say coolly when, whoever it was saw her gasping on the ground. "Whoa, are you okay?" He walked swiftly to where she was, on her hands and knees.  
  
"I need- need to get...to the hospital wing," she managed to get out while grimacing in pain as she tried to stand.  
  
"Here, lemme help you," the stranger said to her as he grabbed her arm to help her up. Roxanne got to her feet, but as soon as they started walking, another burst of pain shot through her stomach. She doubled over again and she cried out in pain.  
  
"C'mere," the stranger said, and he picked her up in a cradled position and walked as quickly as he could. Roxanne wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself. She was slowly blacking out from the immense pain.  
  
They finally burst through the door of the hospital wing. "Madam Pomfrey!" The boy called out. Madam Pomfrey walked out of her office. "What's the mat- oh dear!" she said as she rushed over to them. "Follow me!" she said. She led them to a bed where the boy placed Roxanne. Blackness was closing in on her. Madam Pomfrey's voice grew farther and farther away. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was Madam Pomfrey's voice saying, "What happened to her, Draco?" 


	8. Chapter Eight

Roxanne slowly opened her eyes. She squinted when the bright sunlight hit her. She fully opened her eyes and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a bed in the hospital wing and she couldn't remember how she got there. She turned her head and saw Madam Pomfrey talking to Katie, who was swallowing some sort of potion. Katie grimaced at the taste and handed the now empty glass back to Madam Pomfrey. She then looked over at Roxanne hopefully.  
  
"You're awake!" she said happily as she walked over to her. "How are you feeling?" she asked raising her eyebrows, worried.  
  
"Okay, I guess," Roxanne said. "My stomach hurts a little, and I can't remember why I'm here," she finished looking over to Katie expectantly, hoping she could enlighten her.  
  
"You really don't remember?" Katie asked and Roxanne shook her head.  
  
"Well, remember that little spill in Potions yesterday?" Roxanne nodded. "As it turns out, that was some pretty dangerous stuff we spilled," Katie said regretfully. "If you inhale the fumes, it can get into your stomach and cause some severe problems, which is what happened to you." Roxanne nodded. She was slowly beginning to remember the events of that morning. She remembered waking up with an unbelievable stomach ache, and she remembered trying to get to the hospital wing. She also remembered that someone had helped her. She couldn't remember if she knew who.  
  
"If that's the case, then how come nothing happened to you?" Roxanne asked her friend, curiously.  
  
"Actually, I had a pretty bad stomach ache when I woke up this morning. I guess you were closer to the spill, though, so you got the full impact."  
  
"Wonderful," Roxanne groaned as she shifted in her bed to a more comfortable position.  
  
"Yeah well, you should be good as new in a day or two," Katie said, trying to be cheerful.  
  
"Great," Roxanne said, "well at least I won't have to go to Potions for a few days," she said, smiling.  
  
Katie laughed, "Yeah, that's definitely a plus."  
  
"What time is it?" Roxanne asked.  
  
"Oh, I dunno...around 12:30 I think," Katie replied.  
  
"Why don't you go get some lunch? I'm fine here," Roxanne told her.  
  
"I guess I will. I'm starved...I didn't get breakfast this morning because of that stupid stomach ache," Katie said as she stood. "You sure you're okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," Roxanne said reassuringly.  
  
"Okay," Katie said hesitantly, "I'll see you later."  
  
"Bye," Roxanne said as Katie walked out the door. She made herself comfortable again, and became lost in though, trying to remember who it was that got her to the hospital wing early that morning.  
  
Katie walked into the Great Hall, and sat down at the Gryffindor table across from Fred and George. "Hey," she said to them as she sat.  
  
"Hey," Fred responded, "where have you been all day?"  
  
"Yeah," George said, "and where's Roxanne?"  
  
"Roxanne's in the hospital wing, and that's where I've been too," she answered.  
  
"Hospital wing?" Fred said surprised.  
  
"What for?" George inquired worried, "Is everything okay?" George had just talked to Roxanne the night before. What could possible have happened since then?  
  
"Well, yesterday in Potions Roxanne and I accidentally spilled some of the potions we were working with, and as it turns out, they were pretty dangerous," Katie said to them as she grabbed a roll and began buttering it.  
  
"Are you guys okay?" Fred asked curiously.  
  
"Why is Roxanne still in the hospital wing?" George asked trying to hide his anxiousness.  
  
"We'll both be okay," Katie said while serving herself some potatoes. "Roxanne just inhaled a few more fumes than I did. She should be released in a day or two."  
  
"Wow, who knew Potions really was a hazard to our health," Fred said picking up his fork again to continue eating.  
  
"Yeah, as if Snape wasn't enough," George said somewhat distractedly. He still couldn't believe that Roxanne was in the hospital wing. It couldn't have happened very long after he had talked to her.  
  
"Well, I think I'm going to go grab my books for class," George said suddenly, standing up, "I'll see you later." He turned and walked out of the Great Hall, ignoring Fred who was calling after him, "Books? What books? We have books for Charms?" Frankly, George had no clue whether or not he had any books for Charms, but that wasn't important. He had to go check up on Roxanne.  
  
Roxanne was just about to close her eyes and try to get some rest as the door to the hospital wing opened. She looked over and saw George walking over to her looking slightly worried.  
  
"Hey, new girl," George said, using his nick name for her, even though she wasn't so new any more.  
  
"Hey," Roxanne said sleepily as she smiled and tried to push herself up in her bed.  
  
"How are you feeling?" George asked as he sat down on the chair he pulled next to her.  
  
"A little better," she responded, finally giving up the fight to sit up. Her stomach still hurt a little too much for that. "Thanks for stopping by."  
  
"Well, that's what unbelievably wonderful friends are for," he said smiling. "You know, if you didn't want to go to the Founder's Day Ball with me you could have said so. You didn't have to go and nearly kill yourself."  
  
"No! That wasn't it at all," Roxanne started saying before she realized he was joking. The fumes from those potions must have slowed her brain down, as well as giving her the worst stomach ache of her life. "You were kidding," she said embarrassed, "I just realized that."  
  
"Yeah, I was," George said laughing, "but thanks for the enthusiasm."  
  
"Sure," Roxanne said, laughing at herself. 'Wow, good one,' she thought to herself.  
  
A long silence followed. They were each looking around the room, occasionally meeting each other's eyes and smiling. Neither knew what to say. George finally looked down at his watch. "I guess I should get going. I need to at least make an appearance in class," he said as he stood and put his chair back.  
  
"Alright," Roxanne said smiling, "Have fun."  
  
George smiled, "I'll try." He started walking toward the door. "I'll see you again soon."  
  
"Okay," Roxanne answered. "Thanks for coming, George. I really appreciate it," she said meaningfully.  
  
"Any time," George said. "See you later, Roxanne." He turned and walked out of the hospital wing.  
  
"Could I be any more of a spaz?" she chided herself out loud.  
  
"What was that, dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked her coming out of her office.  
  
"Oh, nothing, Madam Pomfrey," Roxanne said awkwardly. "I was just...thinking out loud."  
  
"Oh, alright then," Madam Pomfrey said as she walked back into her office.  
  
'I think it would be best to just keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day,' she thought as she tried to make herself comfortable again so she could go back to sleep. She just couldn't understand why she always seemed to embarrass herself around George. She knew she liked him more than a friend, but it wasn't the first time that she liked someone like that. She hadn't felt so tongue-tied then. Maybe George was something different, something special. 


	9. Chapter Nine

After a few more days spent in the hospital wing, Roxanne was finally released. The classes on that sunny Thursday afternoon had not yet been dismissed. Roxanne slowly made her way up to her room to take a shower and lie down for a while before dinner. She had a terrible headache at the moment. Madam Pomfrey had given her some sort of potion to relieve it, but its effects hadn't kicked in yet. Roxanne was sure it was caused by thoughts of all the work she had to make up from the six days she was in the hospital wing. She was just hoping her teachers would have pity on her, especially Snape, but she knew it was highly unlikely.  
  
She finally reached her room, took a nice, hot shower, pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt, and climbed into her bed. She was hoping to doze off rather quickly; however, this was not the case. Thoughts were racing through her head, things like school work, the Founder's Day Ball (now two days away), George, and the mysterious stranger who got her to the hospital wing. She wasn't sure why she was still obsessing over her unnamed guardian; she just had to know who it was. Eventually her thoughts quieted down, and she drifted off to sleep.  
  
Roxanne was awakened by sounds of a few of her fellow Gryffindors in the common room. She looked at her watch and realized she was already ten minutes late for dinner, and she was starving, and actually planning on eating. When Roxanne was younger she had been a little overweight. One day, a girl at her old school commented on her weight, and then everyone else joined in. Roxanne was humiliated, and hasn't been able to get over it since. So, she crawled out of her bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, and made her way to the Great Hall.  
  
"Hey, guys," Roxanne said as she sat down at her usual seat at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Hey!" Katie said, a smile spreading across her face.  
  
"How goes it, new girl?" George asked with a smile equally as bright, if not brighter, than Katie's.  
  
"As well as can be expected," she replied while serving herself some turkey and mashed potatoes. She filled her plate with as much food as it could hold, then began shoveling it into her mouth.  
  
"Whoa, were they starving you up there or something?" Katie asked with one eyebrow raised as she observed her friend devouring everything on her plate. She didn't think she had ever seen Roxanne eat more than a piece of toast at the most. Fred and George had about the same look on their faces.  
  
Roxanne swallowed what was in her mouth, smiled, and said, "Not exactly...all of the food had kind of a grayish brown tint to it, so I figured it would be best to stay away from it."  
  
"Good thinking," Fred said, shoving some mashed potatoes in his own mouth. "I was there once when one unfortunate first year ate something that he had been served, and he grew an extra nose out of the middle of his forehead."  
  
"That never happened," Katie said incredulously.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Fred challenged her, "you ever hear of Nate Greely?"  
  
"Nope," said Katie.  
  
"Exactly," Fred said, pointing his fork at her while trying to make his point. "He was taken to St. Mungo's to get the extra nose removed, and his parents refused to send him back here."  
  
"Whatever," Katie said, shaking her head and laughing slightly as she returned to her meal.  
  
Roxanne laughed as well, as she looked around the Great Hall. She was really glad to be back. Her eyes landed on the Slytherin table, and then suddenly it hit her. She knew who got her to the hospital wing six days ago. 'It was Malfoy,' she thought to herself, suddenly losing her appetite. She remembered hearing Madam Pomfrey's voice, 'What happened to her, Draco?'  
  
But how could it possibly be him? Why would he do anything to help her? He had been nothing but nasty to her since they first met in the library.  
  
"Hello? Is anybody in there?" Roxanne's thoughts were interrupted by George who was waving his hand in front of her face. She blinked a few times and said, "What?"  
  
"Are you alright?" George continued, "You look like you just saw Snape naked or something."  
  
"Whoa, George!" Katie said, suddenly covering her ears, then her eyes. "Bad mental picture!"  
  
"Get out, get out!" Fred was saying to himself as he hit the side of his head with his palm, as if he were trying to manually force the thought out of his mind.  
  
"Sorry!" George exclaimed, holding his hands up in front of him, as if to say he was innocent, "She just had this horrified look on her face..."  
  
"Aahh, don't EVER say that again, okay?" Katie said, shaking her head.  
  
"Alright, okay, I'm sorry," George said.  
  
This whole time Roxanne couldn't help but stare at the person who pretty much saved her life. Malfoy got up from his place at the Slytherin table and made his way out of the Great Hall.  
  
"I gotta go, guys," Roxanne said as she got up to leave. "I'll talk to you later." She followed Malfoy out of the Great Hall. She just had to talk to him.  
  
"Malfoy, wait up," she said as she tried to catch up with him.  
  
He didn't slow down, or even acknowledge that he heard her. So, she tried again, "Hey, Malfoy, wait up will you?" He slowed and turned his head slightly to see who was following him. "What do you want, Mudblood?" he snarled at her.  
  
Roxanne slowed down, "Yo, what was that for? I'm just trying to talk to you. And by the way, I am a pureblood, you know."  
  
"You're an American," he said as he turned to face her, "It's the same thing."  
  
Roxanne was getting pretty annoyed with all the hassle. She was trying to thank him! "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Roxanne said, only letting some of her annoyance show through.  
  
"Do as you wish," Malfoy replied. There was a moment of silence before Malfoy said, "So, what do you want?"  
  
"Well," Roxanne began. She paused for a moment to calm herself so she wouldn't flip out at him. "I wanted to thank you for...helping me out the other day," she said calmly and quietly.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Malfoy said harshly as he turned and started walking swiftly.  
  
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Roxanne said as she followed closely behind him.  
  
"I don't help Gryffindors, especially Mudblood Gryffindors," he scoffed, and continued walking briskly.  
  
"Well, you did, so why don't you just suck it up and let me thank you for it!" she yelled at him. Merlin was he stubborn! At her words, he slowed to a stop and turned to face her. "Fine," he mumbled, looking everywhere but at her, "You're welcome." They stood silent for a moment. "So...why'd you do it?" Roxanne asked quietly after a minute. Malfoy seemed a little surprised at the question. "Well, you were lying in a whimpering heap on the floor...what did you think I was going to do, leave you there?" he said nonchalantly.  
  
"Well...yeah," Roxanne said, puzzled.  
  
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought you did," he said coolly. "See you around, Mudblood," he said, and walked away. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Roxanne tried to put the episode with Malfoy out of her head, and focus her attention on the Founder's Day Ball. It wasn't very difficult because that was pretty much the only topic of conversation. Hardly anyone could pay attention during class. The girls discussed how they would be wearing their hair, or what their robes looked like. The boys were talking about their dates, or deciding who would still be available to ask at the last minute.  
  
Finally, after all of the waiting and anticipation, the day of the ball was upon them. Some girls woke up bright and early to begin their preparations. Roxanne, however, slept in for as long as she could. She was just as excited for the ball as the next girl, but she didn't really feel the need to prepare for twelve hours. Besides, just because she had been in the hospital wing did not mean that her sleepless nights ended. It was just the opposite; she had so much work to do she thought she would never catch up. She had been lucky that most of her teachers allowed her as much time as she needed to get caught up, or told her there was no need to make up any of the missed work, or worked with her after class. The exception to this was Snape. He didn't give her any special treatment whatsoever, and expected her to be caught up already. Of course, Roxanne was not surprised by this. In fact, she had expected it, but that didn't make it any easier.  
  
So Roxanne stayed up all night both nights since she had been released from the hospital wing, and did her work for Potions. She was grateful for Katie because she stayed up with Roxanne one night to help her, even though Katie, the Weasleys, and many others tried to convince her that Potions wasn't important enough to lose sleep over. After all, she was still recovering. But Roxanne's overachiever attitude would win out in the end, and she would stay up anyway. Besides, she felt that she had mostly recovered.  
  
She took this weekend as an opportunity to catch up on missed sleep. When she finally awoke, she realized it was already time for lunch. She got up, pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt (no doubt one that said "I Love New York" on it), and strolled down to the Great Hall.  
  
When she entered she noticed that, while most of the male population of the student body was present, the same couldn't be said about the girls. There was a total of about 25 girls in the Great Hall. Surely the rest were busy getting ready, or obsessing that something wasn't going right.  
  
Roxanne took her usual seat at the Gryffindor table across from Fred and George.  
  
"Well, lookey here," George said in a sarcastically surprised tone of voice, "a girl has emerged from the dark depths of the dressing room. Do you come bearing news?"  
  
"Nope, sorry," Roxanne replied while serving herself a small helping of oatmeal, "I just woke up actually. I haven't seen any of the girls all day."  
  
"Well, I guess that's a good thing," George said. "Although, I am a little hurt that you aren't making the effort to make yourself look pretty for me tonight," he finished jokingly, trying to make her feel guilty.  
  
"Is that so?" Roxanne retorted playfully, "Well then I guess I'm a little hurt that you aren't doing the same for me."  
  
"Moi?" George said innocently, "I don't need to do anything to make myself look pretty. I'm always pretty."  
  
"Wow, okay, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Roxanne replied, laughing. Just as she said that, she remembered the last time she had said that same thing. It was during her confrontation with Malfoy. Except that time she hadn't said it so playfully. She curiously took a quick glance at the Slytherin table. What she saw surprised her. Malfoy was staring at her, with a slight smile on his face. As soon as he noticed that she had seen him, he abruptly turned his head and started talking to Goyle as his face reddened slightly. Roxanne was confused. She couldn't understand why Malfoy had been staring at her. Was it possible that he was trying to seem threatening? That didn't explain why he turned away when she noticed him. And besides, the look on his face wasn't a menacing one. She wasn't quite sure what kind of look it was, but it was certainly a look she had never seen on Malfoy's face before.  
  
"So are you guys excited for tonight?" Roxanne asked Fred and George, hoping to put all thoughts of Malfoy out of her mind.  
  
"You bet," Fred replied. "I can't wait to get my groove on," he said as he started dancing in his seat.  
  
"Well, please don't dance like that," George said, putting his hand up to shield his vision from his brother, "You'll give us all nightmares."  
  
"That was uncalled for," Fred said as if his feelings were hurt.  
  
"No, that was perfectly called for," George said, "I'm just trying to protect the innocence that still exists in our school."  
  
Roxanne watched this exchange as she finished her lunch amused and asked George, "So how are you going to be dancing tonight?"  
  
"Hmm, let's see, how about...not at all?" George said as he was rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  
  
"Oh yes you are," Roxanne informed him, "My date will not be a wallflower. I'll put a charm on your shoes if I have to."  
  
"No you wouldn't," George challenged her.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't?" Roxanne said impishly as she began pulling her wand out of the pocket of her sweatshirt. "Do you want me to give it a try right now?"  
  
"No, no that's okay!" George surrendered, "I believe you."  
  
"Good," Roxanne said satisfied, putting her wand back in her pocket.  
  
"I guess, since you're going to make me dance, I should probably start practicing now," George said, and he started dancing in his seat the same way Fred had.  
  
"Whoa! Down, boy!" Roxanne said. She couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, well, you need to work on that," Roxanne said as she stood up from her seat, "And I will see you later. I suppose I should go start 'pretty- fying' myself now," she finished lightheartedly, as she started to walk away.  
  
"Good," George said playfully, "You've got a lot of work ahead of you."  
  
"Hey!" Roxanne exclaimed as she turned and faced him. "I resent that remark!" Of course she knew he was kidding, but she decided to play along anyway.  
  
"That's nice," George said impassively, satisfied that he had gotten a response. "Now skedaddle," he finished waving his hand at her. Roxanne just rolled her eyes and walked away.  
  
The truth was George didn't think Roxanne could get more beautiful than she already was. Even though she was wearing baggy sweats, had her hair pulled back messily in a bun, and wore no makeup, she was more beautiful that anyone he had ever seen. He had considered the possibility that he thought this because he liked her so much, but this thought was dismissed as he saw more than a few of the boy's heads turn as Roxanne walked out. And the most amazing thing about it was that she had no idea. She had no idea that heads turned when she walked into a room, or how everyone would start whispering to each other about her; debating whether she was some sort of model or an actress. She was totally clueless as to how beautiful she really was. George figured it was probably better that way. Sure, he knew pretty girls, but they were always worried about how their hair or makeup looked, and took hours to get ready to go everywhere. All they thought about was how they looked and how other people thought they looked. He loved how Roxanne was different; it was refreshing. He couldn't get enough of her, and he couldn't wait to see her again. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Roxanne slowly ambled back to the Gryffindor dormitory. She was in no hurry and was enjoying the quiet emptiness of the school. When she had reached her room, she grabbed a towel and her robe and walked to the girls' bathroom, which was conveniently located down the hall from the sixth year girls' dormitory. She pushed open the door to the bathroom, and the muffled sound she had heard in the hall instantly elevated into the din of voices that belonged to the girls of Gryffindor House. The spacious bathroom was filled to capacity. There were girls everywhere primping for the big night. Roxanne seemed to have been behind the curve. Younger girls surrounded large, full-length mirrors that hung on the walls, while some of the sixth and seventh years crowded around vanity tables that Professor McGonagall had conjured up for the occasion. Roxanne walked through the cloud of perfume and hairspray and around the corner to the showers. She took a long, hot, relaxing shower, dried herself off, wrapped her warm, soft robe around her, and walked over to the vanity tables. Miraculously, there was one open, so Roxanne sat down, and ran her towel through her hair to get out most of the moisture.  
  
"Hey, stranger," a cheerful voice behind her said. Roxanne saw the reflection of Katie standing behind her in the mirror.  
  
"Hey yourself," Roxanne said as she swiveled in her seat to face her. "You look nice," Roxanne complimented her friend.  
  
"Thanks," Katie said excitedly as she sat at the now vacant table beside Roxanne. Katie had obviously spent a lot of time preparing already, because her usually straight hair was now curled into dozens of ringlets that fell softly over her shoulders. "I've been up here all morning," she continued, "Would you believe that there is no spell in existence to curl hair? I really think someone should look into it. It took me forever to do this," she said as she brushed one of the curls behind her shoulder.  
  
"Haven't you eaten anything all day? It's like five o'clock," Roxanne asked incredulously. She understood that some girls liked to take their time when they were getting ready for an event as special as the Founder's Day Ball seemed to be, but she knew that Katie rarely missed meals for anything.  
  
"Well, I had a piece of toast this morning when one of the house elves brought up some breakfast for us, but I haven't eaten since then," Katie answered somewhat regretfully. "I guess I'm turning into you," she finished jokingly.  
  
"Yeah, sounds like it," Roxanne managed a weak laugh.  
  
"Well, I don't know how you do it, because I'm starved!" Katie exclaimed.  
  
Roxanne laughed, "Why don't you go down to the kitchen and get something to eat? You look like you're pretty much ready, aren't you?"  
  
"Yeah," Katie said as she examined herself in the mirror. "I just have to put on my makeup and get dressed. Okay, I'll see you in a little while," she finished as she left the bathroom.  
  
Roxanne turned back to the mirror and studied her reflection. She hadn't yet decided what she was going to do with her hair. She looked around at the other girls, hoping for some inspiration. Angelina and Alicia were each sitting at a vanity, which were side-by-side. They were chatting happily as Angelina was fastening the last strand of dark hair into an elegant bun, while Alicia straightened her hair. Standing along the walls by the mirrors was Hermione Granger surrounded by Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown who were furiously trying to tame Hermione's bushy hair.  
  
Roxanne turned back to the mirror in front of her, and stared at her reflection again. She tried pulling back different strands of hair, then all of her hair. She let go in frustration. She didn't like how anything looked, which wasn't unusual. She eventually decided to just let it air- dry and see what happened.  
  
After a while Roxanne's hair had mostly dried, and it fell in curly tendrils over her shoulders and down her back. She was semi-pleased with how it looked and decided not to mess with it any more. Just then Katie returned.  
  
"Hey," she said, sitting down at the vacant vanity next to Roxanne. "Wow, your hair looks amazing! What did you do to it?"  
  
"Um...nothing," Roxanne replied, not really knowing what to say.  
  
"You mean your hair just dried like that?" Katie asked astonished.  
  
"Well...yeah," Roxanne replied. Roxanne thought her hair looked fine, but she wouldn't call it "amazing." It was just hair.  
  
"Wow, you are so lucky to have such great hair," Katie said jealously.  
  
"Uh...thanks," Katie said, feeling uncomfortable. She hated when people made a fuss over her, good or bad. "So what took you so long?" she asked hoping to shift the subject from herself.  
  
"Well, I took my time getting down to the kitchens," she began as she took out her makeup bag, "and then the house elves took a while to get my food ready for me, but it was definitely worth it. It was so good!" she continued, "and then I had to stop by our room to grab my makeup bag," she finished applying some kind of makeup Roxanne had never seen before. This wasn't surprising however, because Roxanne never really bothered with makeup. Katie must have noticed Roxanne looking at her strangely because as soon as she turned to her Katie said, "What?"  
  
"What are you doing?" Roxanne asked inquisitively.  
  
"What do you mean?" Katie asked obviously confused.  
  
"With that...stuff," Roxanne said as she pointed at what Katie held in her hand.  
  
"What, foundation?" Katie asked.  
  
"If that's what it's called," Roxanne said, trying her hardest not to appear totally clueless, even though she was.  
  
"Well, it's to even out my skin tone and be the base for the rest of my makeup," Katie answered simply.  
  
"Oh, duh...right," Roxanne answered hoping to come across more knowledgeable than she felt.  
  
"Haven't you ever worn makeup before?" Katie questioned.  
  
"Of course I have," Roxanne said certainly, after all, lip balm could count as makeup, right?  
  
"You're seriously telling me you don't wear makeup?" Katie asked confoundedly, not believing Roxanne. "Ever?"  
  
"No, I don't," Roxanne answered. "I have four older brothers, remember? I grew up playing quidditch and wizard's chess and exploding snap. I never really got into the whole 'girly thing'." Roxanne wasn't trying to be mean, or anything; she was just trying to explain herself in a manner that wouldn't make her more embarrassed than she already was.  
  
Katie smiled, "Okay, okay. I get it."  
  
"All right," Roxanne said, relieved that she didn't have to explain herself any further, or mention anything about the girls in her old school.  
  
"Why don't you let me give you a makeover?" Katie asked suddenly as she excitedly turned to Roxanne.  
  
"Huh?" Roxanne said, dumbfounded. Makeover?  
  
"Yeah! It will be so much fun!" Katie said, becoming more excited with every passing second.  
  
"I don't know," Roxanne said uncertainly.  
  
"Please, please, please!" Katie pleaded as she got down on her knees in front of Roxanne with her hands clasped in front of her.  
  
"Fine," Roxanne surrendered. How bad could it be?  
  
"Yes!" Katie exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. "This is going to be great!" she continued as she dumped some of the contents of her makeup bag onto the table in front of Roxanne, and then Katie set to work. Over the next hour, Katie used every moisturizer, powder, and gloss from her makeup bag to complete this makeover.  
  
"How much stuff do you have in that bag?" Roxanne exclaimed after Katie continued pulling cosmetics out of the seemingly bottomless bag.  
  
"Compared to Lavender and Parvati over there, this is nothing," Katie informed her as she pulled a pair of tweezers out of the bag.  
  
"Whoa, what are those for?" Roxanne asked becoming a little apprehensive.  
  
"You'll see," Katie dismissed her, while kind of humming to herself.  
  
"Ow!" Roxanne yelled after Katie had plucked a stray hair from Roxanne's eyebrow, "that hurt!"  
  
"Sorry, babe, but beauty is pain," Katie shrugged.  
  
"Are you sure there's no spell for this 'beauty' thing?" Roxanne whimpered and flinched as Katie plucked another hair.  
  
"I'm afraid not," Katie answered, "because, trust me, if there was a spell, I would definitely know about it." Roxanne just sighed in response.  
  
"Oh yeah, I just remembered," Katie said after a few more minutes. "I heard the strangest thing when I was down in the kitchen a while ago."  
  
"Really?" Roxanne asked, interested. "What was it?"  
  
"Well...I don't know if you're going to like it..." Katie began as she pulled away a little.  
  
"Tell me anyway," Roxanne urged.  
  
"Okay...well, there were a few Slytherin girls already in the kitchen when I arrived, and they were gossiping with each other..." Katie said then paused.  
  
"Go on."  
  
"At first I didn't know what they were talking about. I just heard them say things like 'I can't believe he would ever go for someone like her, especially because of where she's from.' And they kept going on and on about how cute whoever this 'he' was," Katie said and paused again, unsure if she should continue.  
  
"Okay..." Roxanne said, waiting for the strange part. Gossip was certainly not a strange occurrence at Hogwarts.  
  
"Well, they eventually used the names of the people they were talking about in their conversation," she continued.  
  
"And...who were they talking about?" Roxanne asked, slightly losing interest. She was hoping this gossip would be a little more interesting than the usual "who likes who".  
  
"Okay...the he was Draco Malfoy," Katie said, and stopped yet again.  
  
"And the she?" Roxanne asked, somewhat curious. She couldn't imagine Malfoy having feelings for anyone, so whoever it was must have been extremely worthy.  
  
"You." 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Roxanne just stared in disbelief at her friend. "You've gotta be kidding me," she said to her.  
  
"I swear I'm not," Katie said, "I heard it with my own ears."  
  
"Well, then I think you may need to have your hearing checked," Roxanne said, dismissing any thought of Draco Malfoy having feelings for her.  
  
"You don't believe me?," Katie asked, slightly taken aback that Roxanne would think she would make something like this up.  
  
"No, it's not that I don't believe you," Roxanne said, knowing what her friend must have been thinking, "it's just..." She was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I don't know. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Maybe those girls just had no idea what they were talking about."  
  
"Oh, I don't know about that," Katie said, relaxing again and returning to Roxanne's makeover. "It could be true."  
  
"Yeah right," Roxanne laughed, "like Malfoy would ever like me."  
  
"Well, why wouldn't he?" Katie asked. "Why is it so hard to believe that he may like you?"  
  
"Okay, first of all I'm a Gryffindor," Roxanne argued.  
  
"Okay...so what? He's a Slytherin. It's not the end of the world," Katie pointed out.  
  
"Fine. Second of all, I'm an American, which according to him is as bad as being a mudblood, which he thinks is pretty bad," Roxanne argued back.  
  
"Did he actually tell you that?" Katie asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, actually he did," Roxanne said, proving her point.  
  
"Oh," Katie responded dumbfounded. "Well you know what they say..." she continued.  
  
"No, what do they say?" Roxanne asked, amused.  
  
"There's a very fine line between love and hate," Katie smiled and winked at Roxanne.  
  
"Whatever," Roxanne laughed, "can we just forget about it for now?"  
  
Katie smiled again, "Sure. I'm finished anyway."  
  
"Really?" Roxanne asked, excited and nervous at the same time. One of the reasons she never wore makeup was because every time she tried to, it looked terrible. She didn't exactly have a lot of self-confidence, but she had total confidence in her friend's ability. She couldn't help feeling nervous though, because even though she didn't admit it to him, she did want to look good for George tonight.  
  
"Yup," Katie said as she stood up. "Man, I'm good!"  
  
Roxanne smiled and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her face was covered in powders, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, and lip gloss. She could barely recognize herself.  
  
"You hate it don't you," Katie said disappointedly, when she saw Roxanne's face in the mirror.  
  
"Hate it?" Roxanne asked turning to her friend. "Are you kidding me? I love it!"  
  
"Really?" Katie asked.  
  
"Of course," Roxanne said as she jumped up and hugged her friend, "thank you so much!"  
  
"You're welcome," Katie laughed, returning the hug. "We should probably finish getting ready."  
  
"Yeah," Roxanne said, and with that they walked out of the bathroom and back into their dorm room to get dressed. Thirty minutes later, they were finally ready.  
  
"All set?" Katie asked Roxanne as she took one last glance in the mirror at her emerald dress robes.  
  
"Yup," Roxanne replied as she grabbed her handbag that matched her burgundy robes.  
  
"Let's go then," Katie said as she started out the door, "everyone's waiting in the common room."  
  
"Okay," Roxanne said. "Oh wait, I forgot my bracelet," she said as she went over to her trunk to find it.  
  
"Do you really need it?" Katie asked. "We're late enough as it is."  
  
"You go ahead," Roxanne said as she furiously tore apart the contents of her trunk.  
  
"All right," Katie said as she left, "but make it fast."  
  
Roxanne didn't answer as she intently searched through her belongings that were now sprawled all over the floor. Her hand stopped over a picture she had of when she was twelve. She barely looked like the same person. The girl in the picture was overweight, but she had a huge smile on her face. This picture was obviously taken before the girls at school had turned on her; before she became miserable; before she decided to do something about it. She was just so thankful that she had Delia, who had been so supportive of her all along, even though she sometimes nagged her about her eating habits. She finally saw the silver charm bracelet that her parents had sent her for the occasion, grabbed it, and ran out the door.  
  
"I found it, Katie," she said as she was walking down the stairs, clasping the bracelet around her wrist, and listening to the excited buzz of conversation among the Gryffindors, "I told you I would." She was nearing the bottom of the stairs, and when Katie didn't respond, she looked up to see most of the students in the room looking at her. Some of the girls were smiling at her, and most of the boys were staring at her, captivated.  
  
"What?" Roxanne asked as she stopped on the stairs, confused. Why was everyone looking at her like that? A few of the girls looked over at their dates and jealously elbowed them, and told them to stop staring. Roxanne noticed Katie smiling widely at her along with Angelina who were standing by Fred and George, who had the same dumbfounded look on their face as most of the other boys. The conversations began again as Roxanne cautiously made her way over to her friends.  
  
"What was that all about?" she curiously asked Katie, who had walked over to meet her halfway.  
  
"Wasn't that outrageous?" Katie chortled.  
  
"Why was everyone staring at me? Do I have something on my face?" Roxanne asked insecurely as she brushed at her face.  
  
"No, of course not," Katie answered. "Rox, you're a knockout."  
  
"What?" Roxanne asked, surprised. Roxanne? A knock out? She didn't think so.  
  
"Of course," Katie continued laughing, "didn't you see the way everyone was looking at you? That was the best! Man, I'm good!"  
  
"You keep saying that," Roxanne chuckled, beginning to feel a little more secure in her appearance. Maybe there wasn't anything on her face after all. Still, she didn't really understand why everyone reacted to her the way they did.  
  
"Well, I promised Roger I'd meet him outside the Great Hall," Katie said, referring to her date who was a sixth year Ravenclaw, "so grab George and meet me down there, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Roxanne said, as she and Katie separated. Roxanne saw George finishing up a conversation with Lee Jordan, and she walked over to him.  
  
"Hey, George," she said as she walked up to him.  
  
"Rox...you look...wow," George said, speechless. He didn't think she could have looked more beautiful than she had earlier that afternoon, but she proved him wrong.  
  
"Thanks," Roxanne answered shyly, as she blushed slightly. "You look great too," she complimented him on his sleek black dress robes.  
  
"Why, thank you very much," he said as he bowed to her, his sense of humor coming back to him. "Shall we?" he asked as he offered her his arm.  
  
"We shall," Roxanne answered, smiling brightly as she looped her arm through his, and they made their way through the crowd and out the door, off to a night they'd never forget. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

The Great Hall was decorated gorgeously for the occasion. Two of the enormous house tables had been moved against the walls, and were covered with an array of delicious food. The other two tables had been removed. Candles had been bewitched and hovered above the heads of the eager guests. The enchanted ceiling mirrored the partly cloudy sky with dazzling stars and a bright, full moon. Four ornately decorated tapestries of the founders of the school hung on each of the four walls. Banners of the colors for each house hung next to each of the tapestries. Soft music poured out of invisible speakers that were suspended above the dance floor.  
  
Most of the students had already arrived. Excited shrieks could be heard from a few of the girls as they hugged their friends, and told them how great they looked. The boys were just calmly greeting one another. Most of the professors were present and greeting all of the students.  
  
After a few minutes, Dumbledore welcomed everyone, and told them to enjoy themselves. After he had finished speaking, he waved his arm, and the music grew louder, and some of the students began dancing.  
  
George and Roxanne met up with Katie and Roger and Fred and Angelina, and they had made their way around the Great Hall, talking to all of their friends.  
  
"Ready to start dancing?" Roxanne asked George eagerly, elbowing him playfully, after Katie and Roger had left to dance and Fred and Angelina had gone to talk to Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet "I know that you've been dying to dance all day."  
  
"Sure," George said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "let's go."  
  
"Seriously?" Roxanne asked, surprised.  
  
"Yup," he said as he grabbed Roxanne's hand, and led her to the dance floor. As soon as they reached the middle, George let go of Roxanne's hand, and started "busting a move." Roxanne stared at George in disbelief as he flailed his arms and moved his feet to the beat of the music. Every so often he would look over at Roxanne, and smile as if saying "You wanted me to dance, so I'm dancing." More people kept turning and looking at George as he whirled around the center of the dance floor. He didn't care what anyone thought of his crazy dance moves. Roxanne just stared at him, and laughed shaking her head. She didn't care that everyone was staring at them either. In a way, he was making a fool out of himself for her. She had said that she expected him to dance, and that's exactly what he was doing, not to mention the fact that he looked totally adorable when he smiled at her.  
  
When the song George was dancing to finally ended, some of the people around him clapped. George waved, and bowed deeply to his audience while saying, "Thank you! Thank you very much!" He walked over to Roxanne who was still laughing and shaking her head and said, "Well, what did you think?"  
  
"That was...uh...interesting," Roxanne said, amused.  
  
"I'm glad you thought so, because that was all for you, Rox," he said lightly. He was just so excited to be with her that he didn't care what anyone else was doing.  
  
Another song began playing, and George started to dance a little more normally (emphasis on a little). Roxanne joined in dancing too. They were both having a wonderful time. Roxanne couldn't stop smiling, and George couldn't take his eyes off of her. He stared mesmerized at the way one curling strand of hair kept falling in front of her face; the way her blue eyes were twinkling with joy; the way her red robes flowed around her as she moved. She was like the perfect girl, and she didn't even know it. Little did George know, however, how insecure Roxanne felt all the time. She had never been comfortable with her appearance, even after the drastic changes over the past few years. She tried her best to hide her insecurities though, and tonight it wasn't as difficult. She was satisfied with the way she looked tonight, and wasn't even thinking about what others thought of her. All she cared about was having fun with George.  
  
Suddenly the music changed, and a slow song came on. Everyone in the groups around them began pairing off. She looked over to George. She saw what looked like nervousness in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a mischievous glint along with an impish smile.  
  
"Miss Moore," George said playfully, holding out his hand, "may I have this dance?"  
  
"Why, of course, Mr. Weasley," she replied, taking his hand and wrapping her other arm around his neck as he wrapped his other arm around her waist.  
  
"So are you having fun?" Roxanne asked George after a while, looking up at him.  
  
"Yeah, I am," George answered truthfully. Who wouldn't be having fun if they were in his place?  
  
"Good," Roxanne answered, "I'm glad."  
  
"Me too," George said smiling down at her, glad he had worked up the courage all those weeks ago to ask her to come to the ball with him.  
  
Roxanne rested her head against George's shoulder and sighed. "What?" he laughed when he heard her.  
  
"Nothing," she said as she lifted her head from his shoulder again to look at him. Just then, Roxanne became very dizzy.  
  
"Rox? Are you all right?" George asked, seeing the look on her face.  
  
"I-uh...yeah. I-I'm fine," Roxanne answered not exactly honestly as she held her head with her hand.  
  
"You don't look fine," George observed, furrowing his brow in concern, "maybe we should go outside. Get some fresh air?"  
  
"Yeah," Roxanne answered, "Sure," and George took her out to the courtyard, which, like the Great Hall, was elaborately decorated for the special occasion. George guided Roxanne over to a bench which faced the enormous fountain portraying the four founders together. Roxanne sat down and took some deep breaths, the dizziness passing, and her stomach rumbling loudly.  
  
"Any better?" George asked still concerned as he sat facing her on the bench.  
  
"Yeah," Roxanne answered, laughing slightly in spite of herself. "Sorry about this."  
  
"Don't be," George said, glad she was okay. That was the last thing he needed; his date passing out on him. "It was really hot in there," he continued, making sense out of her sudden spell.  
  
"Yeah," Roxanne answered vaguely, "Yeah, I just needed some air." She knew, however, that her dizziness had not been caused by the heat. She had been experiencing dizzy spells for a while, but she never had one when she was with anyone.  
  
Finally feeling better after a few minutes, Roxanne stood up from the bench and walked toward the fountain, taking in the beauty of her surroundings. "Wow," Roxanne marveled, "it's so beautiful out here."  
  
All of the trees and bushes surrounding the courtyard were decorated with twinkling white lights. More strands of lights were suspended above their heads, blending with the few stars that were still visible as it steadily became cloudier. Even the fountain, which Roxanne saw day after day, was decorated with the glimmering lights, and the bright full moon reflected in the fountain pool.  
  
"Yeah," George agreed, joining her by the fountain, "they really did a number on this place." Roxanne laughed. She knew that George couldn't go for more than five minutes without adding humor into the conversation. However, it didn't bother her at all. She loved how he was constantly trying to lighten the mood.  
  
Roxanne looked over to George who suddenly looked nervous again, and slightly uncomfortable. She decided it would be best not to point this out to him.  
  
"You know," he said, "you uh...you look really beautiful tonight," he finished sincerely. He had been dying to tell her all night and just now found the courage. Roxanne looked away from him as her cheeks flushed. She didn't know how to respond.  
  
"I really mean it," she heard him assure her; he thought that maybe she thought he was just trying to flatter her. She looked at him after he said that. She looked into his bright blue eyes and saw his sincerity as his nervousness faded. She knew he meant every word, and that it had been difficult for him to say what he said. George didn't know what made him do it, but he reached out and tucked the curled strand of hair that kept falling in her face behind her ear. Roxanne looked down at the pool again, suddenly very timid.  
  
It was almost as if some other person had taken over George's body because then he reached out his hand again and gently lifted her chin, and before she could say anything he leaned down and kissed her softly. Roxanne's mind went completely blank. She knew it was ridiculously cliché, but it seemed that suddenly inaudible fireworks were going off all around them. She was in heaven, and George couldn't have said it better. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

"Oy, George!" George and Roxanne heard Fred call. They quickly pulled apart. They didn't feel like enduring the teasing Fred would obviously dish out to them if he caught them making out in the deserted courtyard.  
  
"There you are," Fred said coming around the corner and past the bushes to the fountain where they stood. "What are you guys doing out here?" he asked. "The party's inside."  
  
"We were uh..." George started stammering looking over to Roxanne for help while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand to make sure there wasn't any visible evidence of their little snogging session.  
  
"We uh..." Roxanne started to say, trying to quickly think of an excuse. "I needed some fresh air," she finished. It wasn't really an excuse at all. That was the reason they had come outside; although that hadn't been the reason they stayed outside. However, Angelina, who had accompanied Fred to the courtyard smiled knowingly. She knew exactly what they had been doing, but to George and Roxanne's relief, decided to keep her mouth shut.  
  
"Whatever," Fred shrugged, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. "I just wanted to inform you that I successfully replaced the remaining sticky buns with our newest invention," he told George with a wink and a mischievous smile. George smiled back, "Nice, very nice."  
  
"You didn't" Roxanne accused a little heatedly, looking from Fred to George and back again, hoping they were kidding.  
  
"He did," Angelina replied for them regretfully. "I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen."  
  
"Oh come on guys," Roxanne protested, even though there was nothing she could do about it now. "It's the Founder's Day Ball!"  
  
"There's no need to get so uptight," Fred assured her.  
  
"Yeah," George continued for him, not wanting to get Roxanne any more upset. "They're completely harmless."  
  
"Exactly," Fred concluded. "Some people just might be a little surprised with their hair color when they wake up tomorrow."  
  
"Fred!" Roxanne exclaimed. It was one thing to play pranks, but making people's hair change colors on a night like this when everyone (well, okay, mostly the girls) took so much time to get ready and look nice seemed so heartless.  
  
"What?" Fred asked, seeing the severe glare he was getting from Roxanne. "It'll change back!"  
  
"That's not the point!" Roxanne said fervently. "Pranks are supposed to be funny, and that definitely isn't funny," she finished and walked off. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so irritated all of the sudden. It wasn't as if Fred and George had never played pranks before. To her this one just seemed so mean. Probably because something similar happened to her at her previous school, and yet again, she had been humiliated. She never wanted anyone to go through what she went through at her old school, not even her worst enemy.  
  
"Rox, wait," George said as calmly as he could as he followed her. What was her problem? Why was she suddenly so annoyed at them? It was so out of character for her.  
  
"Well I thought it was funny," Fred said morosely to himself, still standing in the same place. That definitely hadn't been the reaction he had been expecting.  
  
"Oh, come on," Angelina said, grabbing his arm, and pulling him with her back to the ball so they wouldn't cause any more trouble.  
  
George caught up with Roxanne and gently tugged on her arm to stop her. "Rox, wait up," he said. She turned and faced him. George couldn't read the look on her face. "Hey, what was that all about?" he asked lightly, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to get her warm because it was steadily getting colder.  
  
"I don't know," she said breathlessly and exasperatedly, pulling away from him. She really had no idea why she reacted like she had, but she was still upset. "I don't know," she said quietly and more calmly. She felt like she was going to cry. "I'm sorry," she said softly almost inaudibly and then she couldn't hold back any longer and began to cry. Her crying surprised George. He knew that she had been a little ticked off, but he had no idea she was this upset over a stupid little prank. He didn't know what to do, so he put his arms around her and tried to calm her down. His actions were fairly robotic though, because he had never been in a situation like this, and he didn't know how he was supposed to act. Sure he'd had girls cry on his shoulder before, but it was usually about something frivolous like a bad haircut (however, many would disagree and say that a bad haircut is a perfectly good reason to sob, but George obviously didn't see it). Not one of them had ever had the mental breakdown that Roxanne seemed to be having.  
  
"This isn't just about tonight is it?" he asked her. She didn't answer him. To Roxanne it seemed that all the years of holding in her feelings about the teasing she received from the girls in her previous school were now spilling out of her. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop the deluge of emotion as she sobbed hysterically in George's arms. She hated crying in front of other people, and she felt like a blubbering idiot, but she couldn't control herself.  
  
George had never seen this side of Roxanne before. She was always so happy- go-lucky and carefree. Now, it was like she was a completely different person with some serious emotional issues. This was such a stark contrast from her usual personality, and he couldn't say he liked this side of her. He liked Roxanne because she didn't act like most other girls. She wasn't a drama queen or high maintenance, and wasn't the type of person that always seemed to need a shoulder to cry on. He knew he was just being insensitive, and he was trying his best to be as supportive as possible. Still, he hoped that maybe this was just a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and after she calmed down, everything would be back to normal again.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked her in what he hoped was a soothing voice. He couldn't stand to see her cry, and still didn't know how to act.  
  
"Nothing," Roxanne whimpered gently, pulling away from him, wiping her eyes, and trying to pull herself together. This was all so embarrassing! She couldn't believe she let herself blubber like that. "It's nothing. I'm really sorry," she apologized. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell George (or anybody for that matter) about her past. It wasn't like it was a big deal or some big dark secret. Kids had teased her when she was younger because she was overweight. So what? Who didn't get teased? But she had taken control of the situation. She was no longer overweight; in fact, she was actually slightly underweight. She'd had a problem with her eating habits. She knew she shouldn't skip meals, but she did it anyway. Eventually, skipping meals became an obsession. After noticing her symptoms, such as her fairly nonexistent eating habits, her constant fatigue, and her dizzy spells, her parents had figured out what was wrong, and got her the help she needed. Now, she was slowly recovering. Her parents had been worried about sending her away to Hogwarts during her recovery, but she assured them that she would be fine, and she was. It was still hard for her to eat, especially in front of her peers, but she knew she had to, so she did. She wanted her parents to be able to trust her with her own health again and stop treating her like a child who couldn't take care of herself. However, she really didn't think now was the time to be telling George all this.  
  
"You can't seriously tell me you just had an emotional breakdown over absolutely nothing," he said, yet again trying to lighten the mood. "Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you?"  
  
Roxanne appreciated George's concern and his attempt to make her feel better. She just thought this was something she should keep to herself for the time being. "It's nothing, really," Roxanne assured him. "Don't worry about it," she finished with a reassuring smile.  
  
"Fine," George said. "But just know that if you ever need to talk about it I'm here for you," he finished. He had no idea where that last sentence came from. It sounded like a line some guy would use just to get a girl to make out with him. While he wouldn't mind making out with Roxanne again, he'd really meant what he said, and it really surprised him.  
  
"Thanks," Roxanne said earnestly with a sincere smile. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her, and she really appreciated it.  
  
"You're welcome," he answered with the same sincerity. "What do you say we get away from this sob-fest and get back to the ball?" He asked lightheartedly, offering her his arm, which she gladly took. "That would be great," she answered, relieved to be feeling better and ready to have a good time again.  
  
When they got back inside, Roxanne excused herself to use the bathroom. She was sure her face was puffy and blotchy from crying. She was still pretty embarrassed she had lost it like she had, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Anyway, George hadn't seemed too weirded out. She finally reached the bathroom and pushed open the door. She walked over to one of the sinks and gazed into the mirror suspended above the sink, and she wasn't pleased with what she saw. As she had predicted, her face was pink and blotchy and her eyes were the same shade of pink and slightly puffy. She also had forgotten about all of the makeup Katie had put on her. She had dark grayish rings under her eyes with pale gray streaks down her fair skinned face from her mascara and eyeliner. Her red tinted lip gloss was smeared, but that hadn't been caused by her crying. She smiled to herself as she remembered George's kiss. She snapped out of her daydream and realized that the other girls in the bathroom were looking over at her curiously, obviously wondering why she looked like a mess. She just laughed to herself and proceeded to wash off her face with cool water. As she was doing so, Katie walked into the bathroom.  
  
"There you are!" Katie said as she recognized Roxanne's petite frame hunched over the sink. "I haven't seen you all night," she continued walking over to Roxanne who greeted her while continuing to wash her face. "Washing away my beautiful makeover already?" Katie asked questioningly just as Roxanne finished washing her face, turned off the water, and looked over at Katie to answer her. "Whoa, what happened to you?" Katie asked startled, seeing Roxanne's face before she'd had a chance to respond. "Are you okay?" she asked as she tossed Roxanne a hand towel to dry her face.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Roxanne answered. "Minor breakdown," she laughed, making light of the situation as she dried off her face.  
  
"What happened?" Katie asked again, knitting her brow questioningly.  
  
"It's a long story," Roxanne answered as she folded the towel and hung it neatly on the towel rack. "It's not really that important."  
  
"Umm...a minor breakdown sounds kind of important to me," Katie replied not accepting how Roxanne was just brushing off the situation. "Is that where you were all this time?"  
  
"Well, kind of," Roxanne answered. "I was out in the courtyard with George," she said as she bit her lip, trying to suppress the huge smile that appeared on her face every time she thought about George and the courtyard.  
  
"I see that smile," Katie playfully accused her as they walked out of the bathroom and down the hall, back to the ball. She decided to stop interrogating Roxanne about her "breakdown" because she obviously didn't want to talk about it. Anyway, it was pretty obvious to Katie that something happened between her two friends. "What happened?"  
  
"Well, I'm not one to kiss and tell-" Roxanne began, embarrassed, her face blushing more than she wanted it to.  
  
"He kissed you?!" Katie asked excitedly. Roxanne just nodded in return, not trying to hide her smile anymore.  
  
"Finally!" Katie exclaimed happily as she bounced down the hall next to Roxanne.  
  
"Will you calm down?" Roxanne asked, pulling on Katie's arm and trying to act serious, even though she knew it was impossible, because she couldn't stop giggling. She felt like she was ten again and had just revealed her crush to her friend. She was so giddy it was ridiculous. Katie seemed to be happier and more excited than Roxanne was, and Roxanne had no idea why.  
  
"Nope, sorry, can't," Katie answered cheerfully. "Finally!" she said again.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know! He's had a crush on you since the first time he saw you." Roxanne just blushed even more, but didn't answer. "You are all he ever talks about. Well, you and his Weasley Wizarding Wheezey things," Katie continued, controlling her energy somewhat. "It's gotten quite annoying actually. But he's totally smitten with you. I'm just glad he followed my advice and finally did something about it," Katie finished just as they arrived back at the Great Hall. They stopped at the door, and Roxanne saw George talking animatedly with his brother and Lee Jordan. He must have felt her looking at him, because he looked over to the door, smiled his totally adorable smile, and waved slightly before returning to his conversation. Roxanne couldn't help but stare. She could feel her heart slowly melting, and then it was clear to her that she really liked this boy. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

After talking with Katie and Roger for a while, Roxanne met up with George, and they started dancing again. She was having more fun than she remembered having in a long time. There weren't many slow songs, but the few that were played were greatly enjoyed by Roxanne. It gave her the opportunity to get closer to George. She also got the chance to take in the beauty surrounding her. She couldn't get over how the Great Hall had been changed for the occasion. She also loved watching her classmates dancing with each other. She could tell there would be a few new couples in Hogwarts by the end of the night.  
  
As the night drew to a close, it was time for the last dance. The first soft notes of a song Roxanne had never heard before had started playing. Automatically, George put his arms around Roxanne's waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. They were silent for a while, and Roxanne gazed around the room at the different pairs dancing to the last song. She saw Katie laughing softly at something Roger had said. She saw Ron Weasley asking Harry Potter if he could cut in and dance with Hermione Granger; Harry agreed. She saw Angelina and Alicia talking as they each danced with their dates.  
  
"So, did you have fun tonight, new girl?" George asked Roxanne. She turned from the rest of the room and looked up into his bright blue eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I really did," she said with a sincere smile. "What about you?"  
  
"Eh, it was okay, I guess," George answered shrugging his shoulders, teasing her.  
  
"Hey! Thanks a lot," she said with sarcastic indignation because she knew, of course, that he was kidding.  
  
"All right, all right," he surrendered. "I had a marvelously splendid time."  
  
"Now that's more like it," Roxanne resolved. George just smiled back, and they were silent again. As soon as Roxanne continued her perusal of the room, her eyes landed on Draco Malfoy. He seemed to be staring into space, and he had the usual sneer on his face. His date, whose back was to Roxanne so she couldn't see who it was, said something, and he looked down at her. Either Malfoy was being a complete jerk (which Roxanne knew was the most likely scenario) or whatever his date said was completely ridiculous (which is also a possibility when one considers the type of girl he dates), because he rolled his eyes insolently and looked away from her. Roxanne just shook her head slightly in disapproval. She knew Malfoy was a jerk, and even if he wasn't being a jerk and his date really was that fatuous, he got what he deserved for being shallow and only dating girls for how they look. She looked back over at Malfoy and his date just as Malfoy looked in Roxanne's direction. Their eyes met, and they held each other's gaze for a moment before realizing what they were doing, and then both looked away.  
  
"That's it. I give up," George conceded as he let go of Roxanne's waist.  
  
"What?" Roxanne laughed, not understanding his joke.  
  
"I can't do this anymore," he said disappointedly as he backed away from her.  
  
"Wha-...What are you talking about?" Roxanne asked confusedly when she realized that he wasn't joking. Just minutes ago he said he was having a "marvelously splendid time," and now suddenly he was acting like the world had come to an end right in front of him, and Roxanne had no idea why.  
  
"Never mind," he said, shaking his head dispiritedly, and he turned and walked out of the Great Hall. Roxanne stood with a confused look on her face which mirrored exactly how she felt; totally baffled. She was trying to think back to what might have caused him to suddenly feel so dejected. She couldn't think of anything. He hadn't told her anything was bothering him, but then again, she hadn't told him what was bothering her earlier either. This night had certainly not been a night for clarity on both their parts. She finally realized she needed to go after him.  
  
She walked swiftly out of the Great Hall, ignoring the people who were looking at her strangely and wondering why she was leaving in the middle of the last dance. She caught up with George on the main staircase by the Entrance Hall.  
  
"George, wait!" she called after him, rushing up the stairs to catch up with him. He stopped abruptly and turned to face her.  
  
"What?" he asked with a mix of despondency and exasperation in his voice. He had stopped so suddenly that Roxanne nearly ran into him.  
  
"I-...wha-..." she started stammering while simultaneously trying to regain her balance from her abrupt halt and catch her breath. George crossed his arms without saying anything and waited for her to continue. "What happened in there?" she finally asked.  
  
"What happened in there?" he repeated annoyed. "Merlin! And you were being so obvious about it too! I should have known," he finished heatedly, finally letting his anger out. Then, he turned and started walking away again, more quickly than before.  
  
"George, what the hell are you talking about?" Roxanne asked, beginning to get annoyed herself, and without hesitation she began to follow him. She didn't know what she had done to offend George so much, but she thought she had the right to know. She was quickly thinking back over her actions and couldn't think of anything she'd done that would make him so angry. He had just finished telling her what a great time he was having, and all of the sudden he was acting like she grabbed some random guy and started making out with him right in front of him or something. She was seriously beginning to think George had a mental problem that she wasn't aware of.  
  
"What the hell am I talking about?" he yelled as he whipped around to face her again. This was another reason why Roxanne was thinking there was something wrong with George's mind; he kept repeating everything she said as if it was completely absurd. "It was so obvious, Roxanne! You were staring at him and practically drooling over him the whole night! You know how much I hate that greasy little git and all of the crap that he and his father put my family through, and yet you continued to drool over him. And right in front of me too! And after I'd said all those things to you out in the courtyard! It was like that all meant completely nothing to you! Do you know how hard it was for me to say all of that? It was pretty damn hard, and I thought you'd appreciated it! I thought it meant something to you! I really liked you, Roxanne, and I thought you liked me too. But I was wrong. You're nothing but a tease, and right now I really wish I'd never met you," he ranted, and when he finished he looked at her long and hard and finally turned and walked away from her. She didn't go after him this time. She didn't think she could have even if she'd wanted to. She couldn't move. She was completely numb. All she could do was stare at his back as he stalked away with her mouth slightly open in shock. He thinks that she likes Malfoy.  
  
As she thought about it, Roxanne realized that to George, it probably did look like she was constantly watching Malfoy, but Roxanne knew otherwise. Sure, she looked at Malfoy, and he looked at her, but Roxanne had only decided to look at Malfoy out of morbid curiosity, and for no other reason. When she'd first met Malfoy she'd thought he was attractive (what girl didn't?), but she knew she didn't like him the way she liked George. Even after Malfoy had helped her all those days ago, and Katie said she'd overheard that he liked Roxanne, Roxanne still knew that he was a jerk. She still hadn't been able to figure out why Malfoy had decided to help her that one morning, but the more she thought about it, she figured she probably would have done the same thing; most anyone would have. But still, Malfoy wasn't like most other people. He was coldhearted and had been nothing but mean to her since then. She'd decided not to waste her time thinking about it anymore, because she knew his actions would never make sense to her. She knew it was completely ridiculous for anyone to think that she had feelings for Malfoy, but George didn't know that. Thinking of George made her heart ache.  
  
Roxanne thought she probably could have handled it if he had just screamed and yelled at her, which he did. But toward the end of his exhortation, his voice became softer, and she could hear his pain and see the disappointment in his eyes, and that's what had broken Roxanne's heart. She knew this was all a huge misunderstanding, but she didn't know how to make him see that.  
  
She realized then that she hadn't moved and was still standing on the main staircase. She proceeded to the Gryffindor dormitory and through the portrait hole. She tried her best to avoid looking at the stairs to the boys' dormitories because she knew George was in his room, and she didn't want to think about the pain she had caused him. She was still numb as she climbed the stairs to her room and pushed open the door to find the room empty. Of course, the rest of the girls were still at the ball and having a wonderful time. She looked over to her bed and saw the contents of her trunk still strewn across the floor in front of it. She knelt down and slowly put everything away. She closed the lid of her trunk, stood up, and looked over to her door. She didn't know what she expected to see there. She was probably hoping to see George walking in and telling her this whole thing was just a big practical joke and that he had gotten her good. However, there was no one in the doorway and the hallway outside remained empty and dark. She suddenly felt extremely tired, and all she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget this night ever happened. So she got changed and was about to climb into her bed when she heard a tapping at the window. She walked over and pushed it open to allow a small, grey owl flit into her room. Her hopes rose as she thought that maybe George had sent her an owl to tell her that he realized it was all a misunderstanding and that he was sorry he got so upset. Roxanne quickly untied the parchment from the owl's leg, and it swiftly flew back out the window. She hastily unrolled the parchment, accidentally ripping it at the bottom, praying that George had sent it to her. But as soon as she saw the writing she knew it wasn't his usual messy lettering. On the contrary, she recognized it to be her mother's neat handwriting. All of her hope faded away, and she felt her heart sink into her stomach as she read:  
  
Roxanne,  
It hurts me so much to have to tell you this, especially because I  
can't be there with you, but I have no other way to contact you.  
Sweetheart, I'm sorry, but Grandmom passed away this morning. I know  
this is very difficult for you, and I would give anything to be with  
you now. I know how much you loved her, and believe me, she knew too,  
and she loved you very much. We both know that these last few years  
have been difficult for her because of her failing health, and I want  
you to know that she is no longer in any pain.  
  
Roxanne couldn't read the rest of the letter because her vision had been blurred by her tears. She tossed the letter aside, crawled into her bed, and let herself go. She cried harder than she had in a long time. It suddenly seemed like her whole world was caving in on her. First George and now Grandmom. She didn't know what to do or what to think, so she just cried herself into long, restless sleep. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Roxanne went through the next few days in a fog. She could barely remember anything that happened. Dumbledore had given her permission to leave the school for the weekend to attend her grandmother's funeral. It was extremely difficult to see her family, because they were all as devastated as she was at the loss of the beloved woman. However, she hadn't cried since that Friday night. She'd figured she'd cried so hard that there were no more tears left. Now, it was like she was a walking zombie. When she returned to school for classes on Monday, Katie was waiting for her and tried her best to comfort Roxanne. There wasn't much Katie could do, however, because Roxanne insisted that she was fine and didn't need to be consoled. Of course, it was all a lie, but Roxanne didn't know what Katie could possibly have said that would have any effect on her. Roxanne was completely numb to the world, but she tried her best to appear normal.  
  
Roxanne had asked George a few times if she could talk to him, but he would answer with "not right now" or "maybe later" without even looking at her. He knew that she was going through a difficult time because of her grandmother's death, and he wished he could have done something to help, but he was so hurt by her actions that he just wanted to stay mad at her. He knew she would probably unintentionally say something that would make him feel guilty, even though she was the guilty party in this situation. He was being stubborn and wanted to continue being angry. She'd really hurt him, and she needed to understand that.  
  
This whole ordeal had been rather difficult for Katie as well. One of her friends was angry at another, and she was trying her best to stay out of it, even though it was nearly impossible. From the way George said it, it sounded like Roxanne was all-out cheating on him. Katie felt that she knew Roxanne pretty well, and she knew Roxanne would never do anything like that. However, all she'd heard was George's side of the story, because Roxanne refused to talk about it. She knew Roxanne was going through a really rough time, and Katie tried to get Roxanne to open up to her, but Roxanne would refuse and say that she was fine. Katie knew she was lying. She could tell from the pained smile that Roxanne always had when she was around George, and also because she was eating even less than she normally ate. So until Roxanne finally revealed her side of the story, Katie had a hard time convincing George that it was all a misunderstanding like Katie hoped it was.  
  
The three meals in the Great Hall used to be Roxanne's favorite part of the day. She could catch up with everyone and just enjoy herself. She was making great progress with her recovery from her eating disorder and was soon rivaling Ron Weasley for the title of biggest gourmand of Gryffindor House. However, she'd almost completely lost her appetite since her fight with George and the death of her grandmother. It wasn't that she was starving herself; she was just so upset. She knew if only George would let her talk to him that she could clear up this whole misunderstanding. Therefore, by having George back, her grandmother's death may not seem so devastating. But he refused to talk to her, so there was nothing she could do to remedy the situation.  
  
On Thursday afternoon Roxanne went to the library to get a jumpstart on her homework after a long day of class. She also needed to get away from everyone. She knew Katie was only looking out for her, but she was constantly at her; asking her if she needed to talk, saying that she didn't look so good, telling her she needed to eat more. It was driving Roxanne nuts. She knew she just needed to get away before she snapped and said something she would regret. Katie was only trying to be her friend, and right now, she was the only friend Roxanne had. She didn't need to go and make Katie mad at her too. So she figured it was best to just stay away from everyone for the few hours before dinner.  
  
It seemed like she'd been making Astronomy charts for hours when she finally looked down at her watch and realized that she had. As she'd predicted, she wasn't hungry, but she thought she could use a break. She rolled up all of her parchment and stuffed everything into her bag and walked to the Gryffindor common room to drop it off. Then she walked into the Great Hall and took her seat next to Katie as usual. Angelina and Alicia had switched seats with Fred and George after what happened, so they were now sitting across from Katie and Roxanne. They each greeted her like they did for every other meal and continued their conversation. Roxanne had made it a point not to look at George during the meals not only because it made her feel bad, but also because she felt angry. He just looked down at his plate and interjected in Fred and Lee Jordan's conversation every now and then. Sometimes Roxanne could feel him looking at her, so she would look over just in time to see him look down at his plate again. She wanted so much to just talk to him, but he kept refusing her. In her opinion, he was bringing this misery on himself. Because he wouldn't let her explain, he was allowing himself to continue to be upset and angry.  
  
After she served herself some beef and mashed potatoes, she allowed herself to sneak a glance at George. He was talking to Fred about something and looked over to Roxanne at the same time. He didn't quickly look away like he usually did. He just gazed into her eyes for a moment, like he was trying to tell her something. Then he shook his head bitterly and looked away. Roxanne looked away too, exhaling angrily. How dare he look at her like that and try to make her feel guilty? It was his fault they weren't on speaking terms anymore. She tried desperately to talk to him, but he stubbornly refused. She shook her head slightly as she stared at her own plate, picking at her food.  
  
"Still not hungry?" Katie asked when she noticed Roxanne picking at her food. Roxanne just shook her head in reply. She was annoyed with George and didn't want to take it out on her friend, so she figured it would be best to just keep her mouth shut.  
  
"You haven't been eating much lately," Angelina stated with concern. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah," Alicia put in. "You know, you really need to eat more and get some of your energy back."  
  
"They're right," Katie continued. "I know it's been hard for you, but you really need to keep yourself healthy."  
  
"Would you just stop?" Roxanne cried as she slammed her fork down next to her plate. Enough was enough. She was sick of how they were constantly pestering her about what she ate. She knew she wasn't eating very much, but why does it matter? There was no reason for them to keep bringing it up. They were treating her like a child, and she couldn't take it anymore. She just completely snapped. "What difference does it make how much I eat?" Katie, Angelina, and Alicia looked at her stunned, as did everyone in the immediate vicinity. Even Fred, George, and Lee Jordan stopped in the middle of their conversation to look over at her curiously. No one had ever heard Roxanne raise her voice to anyone like that, but she just lost it. Between the constant pestering about her eating habits and George barely speaking to her as a result of this huge misunderstanding that he wouldn't let her explain, she just couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sick of how you're always badgering me about my appetite! There are more important things to talk about other than 'How much Roxanne ate today'!" she shouted irritably at the three girls as she jumped up from the table.  
  
"Rox, I was only-" Katie started to say, still shocked by Roxanne's sudden outburst.  
  
"Forget it," Roxanne cut her off, and she quickly walked out of the Great Hall with her head down, not making eye contact with anyone. She just needed to get away from everyone. She stomped up the main staircase, still fuming. Why couldn't everyone see that she just needed to be left alone? Why did they bother her with such stupid things like how much she ate? Who cares? She slowed down some when she realized she was alone. She didn't know where to go or what to do. All she knew was that she needed to be alone to calm down and think for a while. She decided to head outside to the lake, so she turned around to head back down the hallway, back to the main stairs. She was walking, staring at the carpet, when she heard the voice of the last person in the world she wanted to talk to.  
  
"Well, look who it is," she heard Malfoy say with cool confidence. She looked up to see him smiling coldly as he walked toward her.  
  
"Don't even start with me, Malfoy," Roxanne spat, annoyed. Of all people to run into when she wanted to be alone, it had to be him. He was the cause of most of her problems.  
  
"Oh, a little testy are you, Mudblood?" he scoffed as he stopped where he was and crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. "Got your knickers in a knot?"  
  
Roxanne was just about to leave and ignore him, but she decided against it. Now was as good a time as any to put Malfoy in his place.  
  
"What's your problem?" Roxanne asked angrily, advancing closer to him. "What did I ever do to you?"  
  
"You know what my problem is?" Malfoy sneered hotly, his cool countenance fading. "You're just this clueless, innocent, little prat who thinks the whole world revolves around you. You walked in here batting your eyelashes as if to say 'Oh, look at me. I'm new, and I'm so helpless. Somebody needs to take care of me.' And then you go and act like the teacher's pet, always doing what's expected of you. It's disgusting."  
  
Roxanne just stared at him, her face contorted with contempt. She couldn't believe he just said that. She new damn well that she could take care of herself. She'd show him.  
  
"Oh yeah?" she said, challenging him. She new it was immature, but what else could she say?  
  
"Yeah," he scoffed, his voice full of disdain as if proving to her that there was nothing for her to challenge.  
  
Roxanne had no idea where her next action came from. She was just so pissed off that she completely lost all sense of decency. Looking back, she probably wouldn't have handled the situation the way she did, but it was all she could think of at the time. She reached out and grabbed the front of Malfoy's robes. He winced, obviously thinking Roxanne was going to punch him, which probably wouldn't have been a bad idea, but she didn't punch him. Instead, she yanked him toward her and kissed him hard, full on the lips. He was shocked and didn't react right away. Roxanne was shocked too, but she didn't let up. She pulled on his robes as hard as she could to keep him from moving away from her.  
  
After a few moments, Malfoy seemed to realize what was happening. Just as he started kissing her back, she pushed him away from her as forcefully as before. She let out a deep breath while thinking, 'omigod, omigod, omigod.' But she knew she couldn't let Malfoy see her unsure of herself, so she looked up to him with a smirk on her face and cocked her eyebrow as if to say, "Told you so." He just looked at her, breathing heavily, still somewhat shocked. She turned away from him and started walking before she could cause any more damage. She closed her eyes as 'omigod, omigod, omigod' continued to play nonstop in her head.  
  
Before she got very far, Malfoy reached out, grabbed her hand, whipped her around to face him, pulled her toward him, and kissed her just as hard as she'd kissed him. Now, it was Roxanne's turn to be shocked. This was all so crazy, but she couldn't help herself. She was so mad at George for not letting her explain. This felt like a way to get back at him for the torture he was putting her through. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around Malfoy's neck, deepening the kiss. It was like this was a way for her to let all of her anger out. She felt like she was doing something bad, and it felt good.  
  
Her hand slowly crept up Malfoy's neck and into his gelled hair. Upon feeling the stiffness of his hair she seemed to realize exactly what it was she was doing. She was kissing Malfoy. Not George. She hated Malfoy, and he hated her. She really liked George. She should be with him, not Malfoy. It seemed that at that same moment, Malfoy realized what he was doing too, because they both pulled away from each other. Roxanne examined his face for a moment before she pulled her arms away from his neck. They both opened their mouths to say something, but they were both so stunned neither could think of anything to say. Instead, they abruptly turned away from each other and quickly walked off in opposite directions.  
  
The 'omigod, omigod, omigod' chorus that'd been playing in Roxanne's head grew louder and more frantic as she walked. Luckily, she was near the Gryffindor dormitory. She quickly said the password and stumbled through the portrait hole. She collapsed onto the couch in the empty common room and shouted, "OH – MY – GOD!" She didn't exactly feel guilty like she thought she would. What did she have to feel guilty about? It wasn't like George was her boyfriend, and she just cheated on him. He wasn't even talking to her. She knew that she desperately needed to talk to someone about this. She figured it was about time she open up to Katie; that is, if Katie would even talk to her after that stunt Roxanne pulled at dinner. She desperately hoped Katie would forgive her and stared blankly into the fire to wait until Katie returned from dinner. 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

After about thirty minutes Roxanne heard the portrait swing open and looked over to see Katie climbing through the portrait hole.

"Hey!" Roxanne shouted over to her anxiously as she jumped up from her chair to go talk to her. She didn't think she'd ever been so happy to see someone in her life. It wasn't until now that she realized how much she needed to talk to someone who could give her some advice.

"Hi," Katie responded somewhat less enthusiastically.

"Listen, Katie, I'm really sorry about what-" Roxanne began, desperately trying to reconcile with her friend before she got cut off.

"You know what, Rox?" Katie said wearily. "I don't really want to hear it," she finished and started walking toward the stairs.

"Katie, please," Roxanne pleaded and grabbed Katie's arm. She just needed a friend so badly right now, and Katie was the only one who would understand. "I know I was a real jerk earlier, and I'm sorry, but-"

"Damn right you were!" Katie exclaimed as she whipped around to face Roxanne. Roxanne didn't think she'd ever seen Katie this angry before. She figured Katie would be a little ticked at her, but she had no idea she was this mad. "We were worried about you, Rox! We're just trying to help, and you flip out on us! You should be happy that we care so much about you that we notice that you hardly ever eat anything! But instead you act all moody and snap at us whenever we try to talk to you! You can be so conceited sometimes, and I'm sick of it!"

Roxanne didn't know what to say. She just stood there, staring at Katie who stared right back with anger flaring in her eyes. Katie was right. She should have just been grateful that her friends cared enough to try to help her, but what does she do instead? She snaps at them. She hadn't realized how much of a jerk she really was until now.

"Katie, I...I'm really sorry," Roxanne said sincerely, not having the strength to look her in the eye. "You're right...about everything."

"I know," Katie answered with a little more warmth in her voice, which gave Roxanne the courage to look in her eyes. Roxanne could see the anger in Katie's eyes slowly retreating.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Roxanne asked. She wanted so much to just forget about this and move on, but she knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Why do you do it?"

"Do what?" Roxanne asked, incredibly confused.

"Starve yourself," Katie said quietly. "Don't say you don't, because we all know you do," she finished quickly as Roxanne started to open her mouth to answer.

Roxanne grew quiet. This was the last thing she expected to have to talk about tonight. She went over to the couch she'd been sitting on before and sat down again. Katie followed and sat in a nearby chair, patiently waiting for Roxanne's answer.

"I don't do it as much anymore," Roxanne began calmly and quietly.

"What do you mean you don't do it as much any more?" Katie asked incredulously. "You barely ever eat anything. What, did you not eat at all before?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Katie said, taken aback. They were both silent for a moment, then Roxanne began telling Katie the entire story: the girls who made fun of her, her secret decision to change her life, her parents finally figuring out what was going on, and her rehab. Roxanne told the entire story in a hushed voice, looking into the fire. She didn't think she could look Katie (or anyone for that matter) in the eye while she revealed this dark part of her past. When she finished, she finally looked over at Katie, who was sitting extremely still, as if she'd been petrified. She realized Roxanne was finished her story and finally came out of her comatose state.

"Wow, Rox. I had no idea," Katie said. "I'm sorry I brought it up-"

"Don't be," Roxanne said reassuringly. "It felt good to tell someone."

Katie smiled in reply. "Look," she began, "about before...I completely overreacted-"

"No, you had every right to be-"

"Okay, why don't we just forget about it then?"

"That would be great," Roxanne said, amazingly relieved to know that her friend wasn't mad at her anymore.

"Good," Katie responded with her normal warmth and friendliness returning. "Was there something else you wanted to talk about? Because when I came in it seemed like there was something urgent you needed to tell me."

"Oh yeah," Roxanne replied. She had completely forgotten all about Malfoy. She didn't know if she should tell Katie though, because she'd said earlier how she was sick of Roxanne always talking about herself. Oh well, she thought, I might as well tell her anyway.

"Well...I don't know exactly how to say this..." she began, nervously wringing her hands.

"Oh come on," Katie said. "How bad could it be?"

"Um...pretty bad," Roxanne assured her.

"What, did Malfoy kiss you or something?" Katie asked playfully.

"Well...not exactly..."

"What do you mean by 'not exactly'?" Katie asked a lot more seriously this time.

"I...sorta...kinda...um...kissedhimfirst," Roxanne confessed quickly, allowing her words to run together.

"You what?!" Katie exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. Some of the other Gryffindors who were passing through the common room on their way to bed looked over at her strangely.

"I know, I know!" Roxanne said, covering her face. This was so embarrassing!

"How did it happen? What did he say?" Katie interrogated while standing over her. So Roxanne recounted the entire story for Katie.

"And now I don't know what to do!" Roxanne finished desperately.

"Well," Katie said, plopping down on the couch next to her. "I don't know what to tell you. I thought you liked George."

"I do!" Roxanne exclaimed, turning to her friend, "but he hates me now!"

"He doesn't hate you, Roxanne," Katie lectured her, "he thinks you like Malfoy and that you were just using him. And if he finds out about this, he'll be sure of it."

"But I wasn't using him! I really do like George! I don't know why I kissed Malfoy. Everything was so messed up, and then he was telling me how I always do what's expected of me, and for some reason that made me really mad, so I had to find a way to shove it back in his face, and that's the first thing that came to my mind at the time!" Roxanne ranted. "What can I do? How can I fix this?" She was about ready to cry. Everything she said was true. She really liked George, and she didn't want to hurt him. She doesn't even like Malfoy! Then, why did she kiss him? "Why do I always screw things up so badly?" she asked, and then she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

"Aw, Rox, we'll figure something out," Katie said soothingly as she hugged Roxanne as she cried. "It'll all turn out okay." Roxanne knew Katie was just trying to make her feel better, and that it would take a miracle to resolve this situation. After a few minutes Roxanne finally calmed down and sat up.

"Are you okay now?" Katie asked.

"I guess. I just can't believe I kissed him!" She was so mad at herself!

"Yeah, me neither," Katie responded, chuckling softly and shaking her head. "Now, if you don't mind my asking, how was it?"

Roxanne looked over to her friend, surprised by the question. She saw Katie with a wide smile on her face, which caused Roxanne to crack a small smile in return without even knowing it.

"It was..." she paused and thought for a moment. "Great." Even though she hated to admit it, that kiss was great. It was hot and passionate and nothing like she'd ever experienced before. It felt like she was being bad, which was exciting. It was completely different from the way George kissed. When George kissed her it was sweet and caring. It was like he was telling her how much he liked, even loved, her without saying it. It made fireworks. Now that she thought about it, when she was kissing George, he was all she could think about, and she never wanted the moment to end. She realized now that when she was kissing Malfoy, she was picturing George in her mind. When that picture vanished, and she realized who she really was kissing, she pulled away immediately. It wasn't Malfoy she liked. It never was. It's been George all along.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Roxanne wasn't exactly sure how she should approach George so that he would actually talk to her. So far, she hadn't had much luck. She asked Katie if she would talk to him for her, but Katie refused to get in the middle of George and Roxanne's fight. Roxanne tried a few times to ask George to talk, but he still turned her down. Following Katie's advice, she decided to lay low for a while, hoping that maybe he would come to her.

So over the next few days, Roxanne tried her best to not even look at George. It was difficult, but she succeeded fairly well. She tried to resume her normal daily routine and just omit the parts that had to do with George. It wasn't until George had stopped talking to her that Roxanne realized how much interaction she usually had with him. He, Katie, and occasionally Angelina and Alicia were pretty much the only people Roxanne talked to on a regular basis. Taking one of those people away had made Roxanne's life rather lonely. However, Roxanne refused to give up. George would come around eventually, right?

One afternoon, Roxanne was sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, finishing up some homework when she heard someone coming through the portrait hole. She didn't bother looking up, and neither did most of the other Gryffindors in the room. Roxanne was reading a particularly uninteresting section of her Potions text book when her concentration was interrupted.

"Hey, Rox."

Roxanne looked up upon hearing her name. She was pleasantly surprised to see George standing in front of her, looking down at her expectantly.

"Hey!" Roxanne exclaimed, closing her book and jumping up off the couch. She couldn't believe it! George was actually talking to her again!

"About the other night..." George started slowly and evenly. "I completely overreacted."

"No! You had every right to be upset."

"I don't know what came over me. I mean, you and Malfoy?" he said, some of his sense of humor returning. "What was I thinking?"

Roxanne tried to smile as all of the energy she'd gotten from the excitement of George actually speaking to her drained away. She really wished he hadn't just said that. It's not that she wasn't planning on telling him about her kiss with Malfoy, she just wasn't going to do it right away. But now it seemed that she didn't have any other choice.

"Well, it's funny you should mention Malfoy..." Roxanne began reluctantly. She really didn't want to have to do this.

"What about him?" George asked a little suspiciously.

Roxanne really, REALLY didn't want to have to do this. This was going to be a disaster. Well, she couldn't stop now. She took a deep breath, looked away, and said, "We kissed." She winced before looking back at George to see his reaction. His face was completely blank. There was no emotion whatsoever. He just looked at her. Suddenly, and extremely surprisingly, he started laughing. He walked over to Roxanne and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Wow, you really need some help with your material," he said, laughing hysterically. He thought she was joking! This really was a disaster. "It's really flattering that you would want mimic my sense of humor, you know, since I wasn't around and all, but you definitely need some work. It's your lucky day, though, because I'm back. Now, you see, with that joke-"

"No," Roxanne cut in, "George..." He stopped in mid-sentence.

"What?"

"I'm not joking," she said firmly, but reluctantly.

"You're..." George said, dumbfounded, his face completely blank again. He dropped his arm from her shoulder. "You seriously..." He couldn't finish a sentence. This was certainly not good for their reconciled relationship. Roxanne nodded regretfully. George just looked at her, shaking his head, opening and closing his mouth like he didn't know what to say. "I don't know how to respond to that," he said with the same lack of emotion in his voice. Roxanne didn't know what to do; whether to say something or not. So she decided to just stand their and look really regretful.

"I..." George said, sounding more angry and upset by the minute, still shaking his head. "I just don't know what to say."

"I know!" Roxanne cried desperately, finally deciding to say something. "And I'm so sorry! It was a mist-"

"I can't believe this," he said disgustedly and turned and started walking away.

"George, wait!" Roxanne cried, going after him. "Just let me explain!"

"Explain what, Rox?" he yelled angrily, turning to face her. "You're always trying to explain things to me, but it never seems to make any sense. So, please, enlighten me."

Now it was Roxanne's turn to be dumbfounded. She wasn't expecting him to actually listen to her explanation, and with his tone of voice, she didn't expect that he would be very understanding of it. She was caught off guard and wasn't able to recover fast enough.

"Well, that sounds very convincing," George said with irritated sarcasm in response to Roxanne's silence. He turned to leave again. Roxanne was desperate to keep him from walking away angry. She instantly decided to kiss him. Maybe it would make him remember how much he liked her, and this dilemma would be over. So, before he'd turned completely, she grabbed his shoulders and kissed him.

It was just like the first time they'd kissed. To Roxanne, it felt like the rest of the world disappeared. But before she knew it, George pulled away.

"Do you think that kissing me is just going to make all of this go away?" George asked in mocking disbelief. Jeez, Roxanne couldn't do anything right tonight. "Are you done now?" he asked after they stood silent for a moment.

"Please," she begged quietly. Everyone in the common room was staring at them, and she didn't want them to hear their entire conversation. "Please, just give me another chance."

"Rox!" George cried in frustration. He didn't care if the whole world heard him. "This was your other chance! And you blew it. Big time."

"I'm so sorry, George," she whimpered softly, her voice breaking. At this point, she didn't care if she cried. Maybe it would even make him feel guilty, and he would forgive her. "Can you please forgive me?"

"Why should I?" he asked quietly, but sternly. "How do I know that you're not going to go and do something like this to me again?"

Again, Roxanne was at a loss for words. Should she tell him how she really felt? She figured it wouldn't hurt. She paused for a moment, but then decided to go for it. "Because I love you," she murmured with as much emotion as she could muster. She couldn't believe she'd actually said it. She'd never said that to anyone before. But as soon as she said it, she knew she meant it with all her heart.

George looked at her for a minute. Roxanne thought she saw the fire in his eyes falter. She thought that maybe this had done it; that this would give him a reason to forgive her. But she was wrong.

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you went and had your little snogging session with Malfoy," he said softly. This time, however, his voice wasn't stern or angry; it was forlorn and almost remorseful. He went to leave again, but Roxanne just couldn't let him go.

"George!" Roxanne cried after him.

"Roxanne, please," George replied wearily. "You want me to forgive you, don't you?"

"Of course I do," she answered emphatically. Where was he going with this? Was he really going to forgive her now?

"Then just give me some space, all right? I'm going to need some time to think, because if you want my answer now, it's going to be no. But that shouldn't be a big surprise to you, should it?"

For the umpteenth time that afternoon, Roxanne had no idea what to say or how to respond. She didn't know what to make of what he just said. He was going to think about it. That was good, right? He would realize how sorry she was, and then everything would be okay. But right now he was really pissed at her so it wasn't a shock that he wouldn't want to forgive her now. She guessed she understood. She didn't have much time to think about it before George turned for the final time and left the common room. This time, she let him go. He wanted more space? Well, if it meant he would forgive her, then he could have as much space as he wanted. Even though the past few days Roxanne hadn't gone anywhere near him...wasn't that enough space? She didn't feel like analyzing it any more. Now she did the only thing she knew how to do in this situation. She went up to her room, climbed in her bed, and cried.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The next morning Roxanne awoke with the worst headache of her life. She felt miserable. She'd barely been able to sleep with George's face plastered in her mind. She couldn't have been happier that it was Saturday. She considered rolling over and going back to sleep, but she decided against it. She knew that if she hadn't been able to sleep before, the chances of that happening now were pretty slim.

So Roxanne rolled out of bed and looked around the room. She was the only one left in the room. Everyone else must be at breakfast, she figured. She opened her trunk and pulled out the most comfortable clothes she owned: fuzzy, navy blue fleece sweatpants and one of her brothers' oversized sweatshirts. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and started off for the hospital wing. She needed some sort of headache potion, and she needed it now.

Roxanne greeted Madame Pomfrey and informed her of her complaint. Madame Pomfrey finished tending to her Ravenclaw patient and poured Roxanne a generous helping of the headache draft. Roxanne swallowed and winced in disgust as she tried to keep herself from gagging at the taste. Madame Pomfrey didn't say anything but gave her a look that said "Well, what did you expect?" and took the glass from Roxanne. She shooed Roxanne away, mumbling something about having to tend to her other patients (all two of them) and went back into her office.

Roxanne walked out of the hospital wing and turned in the direction of the Great Hall. Before she got very far, she stopped in her tracks. She remembered her conversation with George from the night before. He wanted space? She'd give him space. She turned instead to make her way to the kitchens. The elves were delighted to see her and made her a huge meal. Roxanne surprised herself and ate most of it. She thanked the house elves and left.

Walking down the corridor again, Roxanne looked at her watch. 10:30? It was only 10:30? She could've sworn that years had past since she'd gotten up this morning. This whole loner thing was not Roxanne's forte. She was tempted to go to the Great Hall anyway to see Katie, but she willed herself not to give in to the temptation. Instead she went to the library to catch up on some homework after stopping by her dormitory to pick up her books. She walked through the library to the back where her favorite table that overlooked the lake was. She rounded the last bookshelf and stopped. Her usually empty table was now occupied. George was sitting there. He was writing furiously, then stopped and stared out the window. After a few seconds, he returned to his writing.

Roxanne was surprised. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen George in the library, if ever. He looked so out of place. She was about to leave when he got up. He stuffed his papers into his bag and turned to leave. Roxanne quickly ducked behind the shelf. The last thing she needed right now was for George to see her watching him.

He quickly brushed past the shelf she was hiding behind and walked out of the library. Roxanne couldn't help but follow him. She knew there were numerous reasons why she shouldn't, but his odd behavior had piqued her interest.

Roxanne made sure to stay far enough from George that he wouldn't sense anyone following him. This wasn't very difficult, however, because she nearly had to run just so she wouldn't lose him. She wondered where he was going, and why he was in such a hurry. Just when Roxanne wasn't sure she would be able to keep up much longer, George turned in to the owlery. Roxanne thanked her lucky stars that the chase was finally over. She was about to go through the door to the owlery when she heard someone call her name. Roxanne jumped, but then turned to see Katie jogging toward her.

"Hey," Katie greeted her friend. "Where were you this morning? Why weren't you at breakfast?" Roxanne explained about her headache and her meal in the kitchens. "Okay, that's cool," Katie continued. "So what are you up to today?"

"Oh, I dunno. I'll probably be hanging around our room most of the day doing homework." Roxanne managed to come up with a formidable excuse for spending the rest of the day in her room. She was hoping, no, praying that George was sending that note to her, and she wanted to make it very easy for that owl to find her.

"Aw, come on, it's supposed to be a beautiful day. You don't want to be cooped up in that room all day, do you?" Katie complained.

"No, I think I really have a lot of homework to catch up on," Roxanne insisted, hoping that Katie would soon give up her fight. Just then the owlery door opened, and George emerged. Roxanne looked away as he started walking toward them. Well, there goes totally avoiding him, she thought to herself. Hopefully he wouldn't realize that she'd been following him.

"Hey, George," Katie greeted him as he walked by. He nodded and smiled at her in acknowledgement, looked at Roxanne for a second, and kept walking. Um...okay? Was that good or bad? At least he looked at Roxanne and didn't completely ignore her.

"So anyway, why don't you come out with me? At least for a whi...oh...I get it," Katie said suddenly. Roxanne hadn't really been paying attention to her. She'd been staring at George as he walked away from them. She'd hoped that Katie wouldn't notice, but she should have realized by now that people at Hogwarts were a lot more perceptive than she'd anticipated. Katie saw her staring after George. "I know what you're doing."

"What?" Roxanne asked, hoping to sound surprised by this accusation. "What are you talking about?"

"You're hoping that whatever George was doing in the owlery is for you," Katie informed her. "How did you even know he was in there?"

"I...well, I..." Roxanne didn't want to have to admit that she was slowly turning into a psycho stalker. It seemed like Katie already knew anyway.

"You followed him, didn't you?" Katie hit the nail right on the head. "You've been following him all morning, haven't you?"

"Not ALL morning..." Roxanne replied, trying to salvage what was left of her dignity. "Just part of it."

"Oh, Roxanne. You're hopeless," Katie laughed as she put her arm around her friend and began walking her to the Gryffindor dormitory. "Well, come on. We need to get there before the owl does."

Roxanne smiled back at her friend. At least Katie didn't think Roxanne was a TOTAL psychopath. "Thanks, Katie."

Katie just smiled in return and walked Roxanne all the way back to their room.


End file.
